Couple adopts seven kids in one day adoption agency then calls them with news that changed their lives. Jessica and Joshua Clarke may seem like any normal couple, but in some ways they’re pretty extraordinary, with a lot of love in their hearts. They’ve both always wanted a large family and did so even before they met. So when doctors told them that they wouldn’t be able to conceive, they weren’t going to let it stop them. In fact, if you look at their family now, you’ll see something quite remarkable.
Joshua and Jessica bonded on their very first date, and one of the factors that brought them together was a sheer desire for a large family and age. Joshua expressed an interest in having ten kids, most of whom would be adopted, and this suited Jessica, whose own parents fostered other kids also. Part of the Georgia couple’s dreams seemed destined to remain unfulfilled, however, after doctors told them that they would be unlikely to be able to conceive on their own.
Nevertheless, they didn’t let the news get them down. Adoption had always been part of the plan anyway, so that was the Avenue they subsequently went down. Several months later, though, the couple were in for a shock. Jessica had gotten pregnant after all, much to the couple’s surprise. Then, in 2014, Noah was born.
However, their son’s arrival didn’t change their plans. They were still determined to have a large family and carried on with their adoption efforts. In particular, the clerks wanted to adopt a group of siblings. As Joshua explained to People in May 2017, There was a huge need, especially for larger sibling groups. They’re normally split up, and that’s detrimental.
It was in our hearts to open our home to them. As a result, in January 2015, Jessica and Joshua were assigned to a case worker to help with the research. Yet over the next year, although they were matched with several potential children, the adoptions never worked out. Then, at the start of 2016, the Clarks received a phone call. It was Joshua, who works in the finance Department at a motorcycle showroom, who took the call.
As Jessica recalled in a May 27 interview with eleven alive. When he got off the phone, he said to me, what do you think about seven? I said a seven year old. But Joshua’s reply, stunned. His wife, Jessica, continued.
He said, well, there is a seven year old, but no seven children. She was as stunned as her husband was. The couple had been searching for a group of two, maybe three siblings. However, with a young son already on their hands, surely seven was too many. My eyes probably got as big as his, and we both said the same thing.
We need to pray about this, Jessica recalled. We prayed that night and didn’t sleep well because God told us that these were the kids for us. Yes, the Clarke somehow knew it was meant to be. One month on, the couple met the Super Seven, as the kids called themselves. They were 14 year old Maria and her sister Elizabeth, aged eleven.
Their brothers Delivermo, ten, and Jason eight, sisters Christina and Kathryn, both aged seven, and the youngest boy, James, aged five. What’s more, their first meeting couldn’t, it seems, have gone better. They started calling us mom and dad the first time they met us, Jessica told CBS in May 2017. I knew they were my kids. I immediately wanted to be their mom.
And the kids response was certainly remarkable given their background. The Super Seven had, in fact, been in foster care for around four years. It all started when the oldest sibling, Maria, then aged ten, knocked on their Jessop, Georgia, neighbors door looking for help when their mom hadn’t come home. They were subsequently sent to Gabriel’s House Ranch, which works to keep parentless siblings together. And despite two unsuccessful adoptions, the siblings were still determined to stay together.
They don’t trust moms, Jessica explained to CBS. From their experience, moms leave and moms don’t give you food. You basically have to break that image down and recreate it for them. Nonetheless, perhaps due to Jessica’s own childhood experiences, she could relate to what the siblings were going through. Indeed, having grown up in a family who fostered, she’d been surrounded by anything up to a dozen foster kids at a time.
Two even subsequently became her brothers when they were adopted into the family. So in August 2017, the Super Seven moved into the Clark’s Effingham County, Georgia, three bedroom home, and as a result, the 25 year old mum of one was suddenly thrown in at the deep end as a mom of eight. It was, however, a new role that Jessica took in stride. Going from one to eight children wasn’t really difficult, Jessica told CBS. It was more normal for us than it probably should have been.
Regardless, the new family were still closely monitored by the authorities until the arrangement became official. That day came on May 9, 2017. In the courtroom, the kids, dressed in their smartest attire, held up a sign saying, we were in foster care for 1359 days. But today, May 921, seven were adopted. Noah, Meanwhile, had spent 1426 days as an only child before becoming a little brother.
Still, the day did bring some unexpected news. There was an 8th sibling, a baby girl, who remained in foster care as a separate case. She wasn’t included in the Clarke’s adoption, but it remains their intention to bring her into the family to grow up with her brothers and sisters. That said, there’s something that needs to happen first. With four boys in one bedroom, four girls in another and the parents in the third, the house is simply too small for another.
Adoption to happen yet so friends have pulled together and started a GoFundMe page for an extension to the Clarke’s home. It’s not easy, Jessica explained to eleven alive. You have to know that God called you to adopt and you need a lot of support. You’ll feel the greatest joys and you’ll feel the biggest heartbreaks. But just like there’s pain and labor at the end you get a beautiful child or seven.
Nevertheless, they didn’t let the news get them down. Adoption had always been part of the plan anyway, so that was the Avenue they subsequently went down. Several months later, though, the couple were in for a shock. Jessica had gotten pregnant after all, much to the couple’s surprise. Then, in 2014, Noah was born.
However, their son’s arrival didn’t change their plans. They were still determined to have a large family and carried on with their adoption efforts. In particular, the clerks wanted to adopt a group of siblings. As Joshua explained to People in May 2017, There was a huge need, especially for larger sibling groups. They’re normally split up, and that’s detrimental.
It was in our hearts to open our home to them. As a result, in January 2015, Jessica and Joshua were assigned to a case worker to help with the research. Yet over the next year, although they were matched with several potential children, the adoptions never worked out. Then, at the start of 2016, the Clarks received a phone call. It was Joshua, who works in the finance Department at a motorcycle showroom, who took the call.
As Jessica recalled in a May 27 interview with eleven alive. When he got off the phone, he said to me, what do you think about seven? I said a seven year old. But Joshua’s reply, stunned. His wife, Jessica, continued.
He said, well, there is a seven year old, but no seven children. She was as stunned as her husband was. The couple had been searching for a group of two, maybe three siblings. However, with a young son already on their hands, surely seven was too many. My eyes probably got as big as his, and we both said the same thing.
We need to pray about this, Jessica recalled. We prayed that night and didn’t sleep well because God told us that these were the kids for us. Yes, the Clarke somehow knew it was meant to be. One month on, the couple met the Super Seven, as the kids called themselves. They were 14 year old Maria and her sister Elizabeth, aged eleven.
Their brothers Delivermo, ten, and Jason eight, sisters Christina and Kathryn, both aged seven, and the youngest boy, James, aged five. What’s more, their first meeting couldn’t, it seems, have gone better. They started calling us mom and dad the first time they met us, Jessica told CBS in May 2017. I knew they were my kids. I immediately wanted to be their mom.
And the kids response was certainly remarkable given their background. The Super Seven had, in fact, been in foster care for around four years. It all started when the oldest sibling, Maria, then aged ten, knocked on their Jessop, Georgia, neighbors door looking for help when their mom hadn’t come home. They were subsequently sent to Gabriel’s House Ranch, which works to keep parentless siblings together. And despite two unsuccessful adoptions, the siblings were still determined to stay together.
They don’t trust moms, Jessica explained to CBS. From their experience, moms leave and moms don’t give you food. You basically have to break that image down and recreate it for them. Nonetheless, perhaps due to Jessica’s own childhood experiences, she could relate to what the siblings were going through. Indeed, having grown up in a family who fostered, she’d been surrounded by anything up to a dozen foster kids at a time.
Two even subsequently became her brothers when they were adopted into the family. So in August 2017, the Super Seven moved into the Clark’s Effingham County, Georgia, three bedroom home, and as a result, the 25 year old mum of one was suddenly thrown in at the deep end as a mom of eight. It was, however, a new role that Jessica took in stride. Going from one to eight children wasn’t really difficult, Jessica told CBS. It was more normal for us than it probably should have been.
Regardless, the new family were still closely monitored by the authorities until the arrangement became official. That day came on May 9, 2017. In the courtroom, the kids, dressed in their smartest attire, held up a sign saying, we were in foster care for 1359 days. But today, May 921, seven were adopted. Noah, Meanwhile, had spent 1426 days as an only child before becoming a little brother.
Still, the day did bring some unexpected news. There was an 8th sibling, a baby girl, who remained in foster care as a separate case. She wasn’t included in the Clarke’s adoption, but it remains their intention to bring her into the family to grow up with her brothers and sisters. That said, there’s something that needs to happen first. With four boys in one bedroom, four girls in another and the parents in the third, the house is simply too small for another.
Adoption to happen yet so friends have pulled together and started a GoFundMe page for an extension to the Clarke’s home. It’s not easy, Jessica explained to eleven alive. You have to know that God called you to adopt and you need a lot of support. You’ll feel the greatest joys and you’ll feel the biggest heartbreaks. But just like there’s pain and labor at the end you get a beautiful child or seven.
