Couple Adopts Two Sisters And Two Weeks Later Mom Discovers She's Pregnant With Twins

Oct 22, 2021

Over 437,000 children and youth are in foster care in the U.S., according to the American Society for the Positive Care of Children (American SPCC). What’s more, it takes years for children to get adopted, and those who never find a permanent place to live get passed between group homes and families until they age out of the system.

Luckily, there are people like Cincinnati, Ohio, residents Calena and BJ Durel. The Durels had always planned to foster children in addition to having their own kids, and after Calena had trouble conceiving for five years, that made their decision firmer: they would adopt.

They got their first taste of being foster parents in 2016, a few weeks before they were officially licensed, according to Good Morning America (GMA). At the time, another foster family had asked if the Durels could look after their foster kids, a pair of sisters, to help give the family some time off. Calena and BJ obliged — and almost immediately, they fell in love with the girls, sisters Mariah and Aubree.

"I took a photo of them that day because it just felt like we were supposed to be with them," Calena said. "I sent the picture to my mom and told her, ‘I can’t imagine these girls not being in our home. There’s just something about them.’"

Even after they parted ways, the Durels kept in touch with Mariah and Aubree.

"We had no idea where their case was going but we just had that tug that they were meant to be with us," Calena told GMA.

Then, in 2018, the Durels got a call that would change their lives forever. They were asked whether they would adopt Mariah and Aubree.

"We said, ‘Absolutely,’" Calena told GMA. "A few weeks later, I started feeling sick and I thought it was the nerves over whether or not we’d get to adopt them."

What makes this story even more heartwarming is that Calena found out she was pregnant with twins shortly therafter. After eight years of trying to conceive, the Durels had finally done it. What’s more, they had taken in Mariah and Aubree.

Calena delivered the twins in February 2019, and in August 2019, the Durels officially adopted Mariah and Aubree.

"It’s chaotic some days but it’s a good chaotic," the mom of four told GMA. "It’s all the joy we’ve ever wanted, just all at once."

In 2019, Moira Weir, who is the director of the Hamilton County Job & Family Services Agency, told GMA that around 400 youth were in foster care where the Durels live in Hamilton County. 

"(Foster) children have had heartache and sadness but then they come into a home where people just fall in love with you," she said. "It’s just amazing how people really rally around each other and love each other."

"You know those kids are going to be in a great position going forward," Weir added.

The Durels’ story has since gone viral, inspiring hundreds of viewers from around the world.

“This is such an inspiring story. God has blessed this family so much. I pray God continues to bless this family with lots of love, joy and happiness,” one viewer wrote.

What do you think of the Durels’ inspiring story? Let us know — and be sure to pass this on to friends and family members.