Sadie and Jarvis Sampson spent years trying to have a baby. They tried everything—ovulation tests, prenatal vitamins, cycle tracking apps, fertility monitors—and even took advice from friends, family, and strangers.
But month after month, the tests came back negative. The couple, married since January 2018, found themselves feeling more and more desperate. Sadie shared with Love What Matters, “We tried, prayed, and waited. For 14 months, it was negative test after negative test.”
Doctors didn’t seem very helpful. They simply told Sadie to lose weight, and maybe then she would conceive. Following their advice, Sadie had gastric surgery and lost 28 pounds. Her OBGYN was thrilled.
“She told me that if I wasn’t pregnant within six months, she would refer me to a fertility specialist because she couldn’t prescribe fertility medication,” Sadie recalled. “I was over the moon. Finally, we got something other than a no! We got a ‘not right now,’ and we were thrilled.”
But despite Sadie’s weight loss, pregnancy still eluded them. “I had always felt like I was born to be a mother,” Sadie said. “My surgeon had warned me about how fertile I would be after surgery, but I still wasn’t pregnant. We realized we were only destined to be an aunt and uncle and godparents to our goddaughters.”
Just as they were about to give up, Sadie received a text from a friend asking if they would consider fostering a baby. The couple was hesitant, worried they might get too attached. But then everything changed.
“The birth mom decided she would like you guys to adopt the child instead,” the caseworker said.
“Holy crap!!” Sadie exclaimed when she heard the news. “We went from not having any children, to the possibility of fostering one, to, ‘You guys are parents!’ overnight.”
Sadie called her husband in shock, “Babe!! They want us to adopt the baby! They want us to be parents!” She remembers him replying, “Wait! REALLY?! I thought they just wanted us to foster him!” She said, “Nope! They want us to be his mom and dad.”
The couple spent the weekend absorbing the shocking news, preparing themselves in case the mother changed her mind. When Monday came, they were told the mother still wanted them to adopt the baby and was ready to sign the papers that day.
Their baby boy, Ezra Lee, was born at 33 weeks, seven weeks early, weighing just 4 lbs., 5 oz.
“He literally fit in one of my husband’s hands,” Sadie wrote. “He was so tiny, swaddled in a white blanket, with pink and blue stripes. He had an NG tube coming out of his nose because he couldn’t eat on his own. But my oh my, was he cute!”
The couple shared their joyful news on social media and created a registry with 72 items. In just three days, 55 items were bought for them. Ezra Lee’s adoption was finalized in October 2020. The couple had adorable photos taken of them as a family, wearing t-shirts that said, “Families don’t have to match.”
In 2021, Sadie and Jarvis became parents to twin girls, Journee and Destinee, through embryo donation. Staying true to their family motto, “Families don’t have to match,” the couple welcomed three white children into their black family—a boy and two girls.
For anyone who judges this beautiful family, they have just one response: their family is built on the most robust foundation ever—love.
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