Budge family adopts all seven of its children

About 6 p.m. each night, the Budge household appears to be like many others.

Mom rushes around preparing dinner, Dad helps the older kids with homework, siblings pick fights with one another, and one asks when dinner will be ready.

But as far as Brad and Tammy Budge are concerned, their family is anything but ordinary. In fact, they believe the very existence of their family is a miracle.

All seven of the Budge children are adopted, two through an adoption agency and five through foster care.

Brad and Tammy wanted to start having children soon after they married. They both come from large families and wanted to be parents, but in the first seven years of their marriage, they experienced a stillbirth, a miscarriage, failed fertility treatments, exploratory surgeries and a failed adoption that cost them $15,000.

"We were devastated," Tammy said. "We thought we were doing a for-sure thing with adopting, and it failed."

The Budges wondered if parenthood would ever happen for them.

Then, in September 1997, the Budges were told someone famous heard about their story and wanted to pay for their next adoption attempt.

Soon, thanks to the generosity of former Brigham Young University and, at that time, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young, the Budges were picking up a 3-day-old boy.

They named him Kimball Steve Budge in honor of their benefactor.

Tammy sent Young a picture of the family outside of a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple after a sealing ceremony and was later told by the adoption director that Young called it one of his most prized possessions, even more precious than his football trophies.

After bringing Kimball home, the Budges received a call from state officials, who informed them that one of the children they had fostered during their years of infertility had been removed from his home and parental rights were being terminated.

The Budges eagerly accepted the invitation to adopt 6-year-old Chris.

The Budges then received another phone call from the adoption agency. This time, Kimball's birth parents were pregnant again and wanted them to adopt the baby.

The Budges quickly said yes but were unsure how to pay the $20,000 adoption fee.

Just before Cora Harley Budge was born, Tammy's father gave the couple the title to his Harley-Davidson motorcycle to use as collateral for a loan.

Within 18 months, the Budges had adopted three children.

"We were just so happy and so excited to be parents," Tammy said. "We loved being parents. I mean, seriously just loved it."

The Budges soon realized they wanted more children, so when Cora was 5, they started fostering children again in the hopes of adopting.

Angel, an 18-month-old Native American girl, came first. Joey, an 11-month-old boy, came a month later.

The Budges expected both children to return to home, but both sets of parents failed to follow court orders and lost parental rights.

The Budges were given the option of adopting Angel and Joey, as well as Joey's two brothers, Junior, 4, and Kadun, 8.

The Budges knew they wanted to adopt the two babies but hadn't planned on adopting two older boys as well.

"We knew there would be a lot of problems, and we had to think and pray about it, but we felt really good about it," Tammy said.

In the summer of 2008, the Budges adopted all four children.

The first year was filled with issues ranging from the need to get a bigger vehicle to temper tantrums.

Sibling bonding was the hardest part, the Budges say.

"Sometimes you think it's never going to happen, but then you have these glimpses of hope," Tammy said.

"We'll be on a family hike, and the older kids will help the younger kids across the river, and it's like, wow, maybe we can do this."

Most of the kids' friends don't know about the adoptions, though for Angel it's obvious. Strangers often point her out and ask about her. Tammy and Brad handle these situations by quickly responding that all seven of their children are adopted and they love them all.

The older children have been teased about adoption but handle it well.

"(We say) who cares if they tease you because you're adopted? They're (always) going to find something to tease you about," Tammy said.

Brad and Tammy are each other's best advocates. They help each other provide a consistent, loving environment for their children.

It's not always easy.

Some of the children have anger-management disorders, attachment disorders and ADHD. They also suspect one of the children has fetal alcohol syndrome.

Some of the children witnessed drug use and domestic violence, but the Budges feel strongly that they can have a positive impact on their children.

When all is said and done, the Budges say they feel like a normal family with normal problems.

"Sometimes I forget that they are adopted and that we have this miraculous story," said Tammy, who wants other families who are struggling with infertility to know that the miracle can happen for them, too.

"It doesn't have to be expensive. You can go through foster care. You just have to be willing to deal with some of the hard things it comes with."

Source: http://www.standard.net/stories/2012/02/17/budge-family-adopts-all-seven-its-children

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