Empty nesters fill their house again when they adopt two sets of twins in one day
Karen and Tobias Thompson were finally empty nesters and free to enjoy their lives together after having raised their individual families.
Instead of enjoying a child-free household, they decided to adopt.
The Cincinnati, Ohio couple dated as teenagers at Taft High School, but broke up and married other parents.
Both Karen and Tobias raised their own children before divorcing their spouses.
After divorcing they rekindled their relationship and remarried in 2014.
Years later, Karen’s twin niece and nephew, Wilnya and William, found themselves in need of a home.
The Thompsons didn’t hesitate to take them in in 2017. They were both 55-years-old at the time. They never expected that their family would grow even larger than that.
But it did. In fact, their family doubled.
The couple learned that the twins’ younger half-sisters, Shania and Sharleathea, who were also twins, had been placed in the child welfare system.
The girls were being constantly moved around so the Thompsons would have them visit to be close to their family.
But eventually, they didn’t want to go back to their foster home.
That just did not sit well with either Karen or Tobias. Tobias immediately suggested that they become foster parents so they could also take in the younger set of twins.
This way the children could stay together. Prior to this, they didn’t know anything about the twins.
They learned about them after the caseworker reached out to them.
“No sense splittin’ ‘em up. Keep ‘em all together,” Tobias told WCPO. “Show ‘em a lot of love. That’s all they need. Love.”
The Thompsons’ adoption of all four children was finalized in 2021.
“We had an empty house, an empty nest, and then we ended up with the four,” Karen told Fox News.
Karen and Tobias collectively had seven children from previous marriages who are all adults.
They also have 28 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. So, their house has always been filled with children.
They just got to send them home before the adoption.
Karen says there is never a dull moment in her household. She says it’s both a blessing and a challenge. But she says it keeps her young.
The children had experience difficulties in their home and foster care. They had been through a lot for children their age, or any age.
But the Thompsons say the children have made progress in their care.
They believe that having the children remain together has been a saving grace for them. The children were very timid at first.
“Now you can’t get them to stop talking,” Karen told GMA. “I think they all needed somebody to love them.”
Since both Karen and Tobias’ adult children were all doing well, they felt they should “spread the love” and give the two sets of twins a life they deserved.
Though they both have full-time jobs, they make sure their adopted children receive the time and attention that children deserve.
Learn more about The Thompsons’ story in the video below.
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