Fayette County Deputy Sheriff Rachel Stephens got a late-night phone call two and a half years ago that changed her family forever. Overnight, she went from being a mother of four to a mother of nine.
Stephens visited West Virginia on a missions trip and felt called to leave Florida and move to Fayette County. Two years later, she took in five brothers and sisters who were removed from their home due to drugs and neglect.
“The Lord sure knew what He was doing,” she said. “I believe He moved me from Florida to West Virginia because these five kids needed a home, but it was never our plan to foster or adopt.”
Child Protective Services had already called foster parents across 14 counties trying to find a place for the siblings to stay together.
Stephens, now 39, was working for the sheriff’s department but was not a certified foster parent. Suddenly her house was filled, with kids sleeping on couches and sleeping bags and all sharing one bathroom. At that time the youngest fosters were 4 and twin 5-year-olds.
“I spent a lot of nights doubting, but I think every parent doubts. You always feel you can do better. I spent many nights crying, wondering if I could do this, wondering if I did the right thing,” she said. “I’d like to say we are on the downhill slope, but now I have four teenagers in my house.”
More than two years after the late-night call, in October 2015, the families officially become one through adoption.
Her children are now 6, 8 (twins), 14, 15 (two), 16, 18 and 20. Eighteen-year-old Craig attends Marshall University and 20-year-old Kaitlyn attends Concord University.