Maxine Young, 30, and her husband Jacob Young, 32, from Reading, Pennsylvania. Married in 2016, the couple went from zero to nine kids in just four years.
Maxine Young said the couple wrote that they would be willing to take in two foster children at a time, but when the call asked if they would be willing to take in three siblings, all under 4 years old, she instantly said yes.
“I said yes we’ll do it without even asking Jake,” Maxine Young said, laughing. “It was really overwhelming. Going from zero to three kids is a lot, but they had already been through so much and lost so much that I didn’t want to separate them.”
“We said yes to their baby sister and it was one of the best yesses of my life,” Maxine Young said. “Elliot and I are so close. I laugh with Jake that she is my real soulmate.”
While raising the four siblings, the couple got pregnant with their son, Henry, using intrauterine insemination. Maxine Young said they had been trying for around two years to have a child and were thrilled when he was born in October 2018.
It was a family of seven when the Youngs got their biggest surprise. After not thinking they could have children naturally, Young found out that she was pregnant. And it wasn’t just any pregnancy — it was quadruplets.
“At first I was excited, but that quickly became nervousness,” she said. “The doctors made it seem like it would be impossible to have four healthy babies and wanted us to reduce. Once we accepted that it would be risky, we felt joy come back. All four of our babies were healthy. I’m so glad we went with our gut.”
In July 2020, their group of five children quickly became nine with the additions of the quadruplets: Silas, Theo, Beck and Cecilia.
The Young family has officially adopted their four foster children — Aiden, 8, Parker, 5, Connor, 4, and Elliot, 3. Their son, Henry, is now 2 and their quadruplets are just 3 months old.