Every child is a blessing. It does not matter how they have come into the world. You can bet that the parent is going to have a weird but incredible journey regardless of their birth. Despite this, Rachel and Aaron Halbert have a special story about parenthood. It even made the doctors skeptical at first!
Why Were The Doctors So Puzzled After Seeing The Way This Set Of Triplets Looked?
Different Worlds
Rachel and Aaron are now married, but they had very different backgrounds growing up. She spent her childhood years in the Mississippi Delta. Her husband, however, was the son of missionaries and spent his early years in Honduras.
Different Worlds
Diversity
Rachel did not encounter racial diversity all that much, but Aaron knew this as a blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy in that part of the world. It all started to change when she was a young adult. She started to take mission trips to Haiti as a way for her to earn experience and responsibilities.
Diversity
Blind Date
In 2004, they had their first encounter on a blind date. It was basically love at first sight for this couple. They were humble people who wanted to use the gospel to improve the state of the world. On top of that, they were both doing missionary work. They could tell that they were the ones for each other. Despite this, they did not make the mistake of rushing things and made sure to get to know each other.
Blind Date
Taking It Slow
Rachel and Aaron formed a closer bond when they went on missionary trips together. They decided to go steady and become exclusive as well! The two of them continued to date, but there was a special something that they had in common…
Taking It Slow
One Major Common Idea
They both planned to adopt. “When we were still dating, a common bond that drew us together was the fact that Rachel and I both wanted to adopt,” Aaron explained. The pair were intent on the idea and had been for most of their lives. It was a truly special thing to connect over and so soon too.
One Major Common Idea
Future Plans
In reality, they had the option to conceive. However, they thought that adoption was the more Christian way. “While we were fertile, we were both deeply convicted that one of the ways to be pro-life is to involve ourselves in adoption,” explained Aaron.
Future Plans
Undeniable Bond
When they started to talk about this topic, they knew that they had found the one. Soon enough, he asked her to be his wife! Clearly, Rachel told him yes.
Undeniable Bond
Getting Married
They were so lucky that they found the love of their lives when they were still young. Not only that, but they found someone who had the same convictions. In 2006, Aaron and Rachel tied the knot and made it official. Even though they were now married, they decided to set kids aside in the meantime.
Getting Married
A Compromise
Their job did not make it easy to start a family. Still, they were aware that they would have their time to do this. They aimed to do it all but in the meantime, their missionary work was most important at the moment, they knew everything would come to them in due time.
A Compromise
New Mission
After they got married, Aaron and Rachel were offered to return to Honduras. They decided to join this mission and flew to their hometown the following year. They were excited to return, but Rachel also felt excited and nervous. Nonetheless, she was thrilled to see what his hometown is like.
New Mission
No Ordinary Honeymoon
Over there, the missionaries went right outside Tegucigalpa to teach English. This is most definitely not like any other honeymoon, but this was what they wanted. They noticed that the area needed a lot of work, however.
No Ordinary Honeymoon
Needs
After living there for a few months, the couple raised the concerns they had about what the community needed. They knew that the church had to teach the residents the gospel. This became the mission that they needed to accomplish. However, they had to go back to the United States even though they still wanted to stay there.
Needs
Heart Full Of Honduras
They had to leave, but the community stayed on their minds. After this mission, the couple flew to Mississippi and felt satisfied by the work that they were able to do in Honduras. Honduras would always have a major spot in their hearts.
Heart Full Of Honduras
Going Home
They eventually resettled into their lives, but there was something that Aaron had to do. He wanted to obtain a Master of Divinity, which is the first pastoral degree offered in the United States. Even while he studied at the Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, the couple never forgot about Honduras. A few years later, they started to think about having a family of their own. What did they plan to do?
Going Home
The Community
It was their wish to keep serving the community they had in Mississippi. Since they did missionary work, it feels like there is an unlimited amount of work to do. Rachel was a teacher at a local school, while her husband was an intern and youth director working at the Second Presbyterian in Yazoo City.
The Community
Topic of Adoption
They talked some more about adoption. “We see the protection of children not as charity, nor as part of a political agenda, but as something near to the heart of God,” Aaron said when he talked to the Washington Post.
Topic Of Adoption
Preparing Themselves
For a while already, they were also thinking about going to Honduras. It was Aaron’s hometown, and they were familiar with the needs of the community already. They decided to return by going on a mission sponsored by the Presbyterian Church of America. The couple tried natural conception, but they went to an adoption agency in Mississippi too. It was time for them to start a family of their own!
Preparing Themselves
Expansion
The visit to the adoption agency was all they needed to figure out that this was the path for them. It was difficult for non-white kids to be adopted by good parents. According to the couple, they wanted any kid that was not fully white. If their application got denied, it was probably a sign that they should have a biological child instead.
Expansion
Fate And Faith
Aaron explained, “We did this with the deeply held conviction that if the Lord wanted us to have a fully Caucasian child my wife would conceive naturally. The pair were intent on leaving it in the hands of their faith and fate. However, what would it be?
Fate And Faith
Adopting Children
Several children were presented by the agency to the Halberts. They knew that they did the right thing. They fell in love with two children who both have African-American ethnicity. Unable to choose between the two kids, they decided to go with both!
Adopting Children
Diverse Family
They brought Catherine and Ford home knowing that this meant making race a big part of their family. It was not going to be easy to raise a racially diverse family, but they were going to make it work no matter what it took.
Diverse Family
Their Options
After the adoption, it was time for Rachel and Aaron to talk about another important thing. They wanted to have more children! However, they had to wait a little while because they just adopted Catherine and Ford. Their interest was piqued when a friend told them about embryo adoption. Curious, they looked it up and read more about this method. It was the first time they had even heard about it.
Their Options
Embryo Adoption
They spent several weeks trying to learn as much as they could about embryo adoption. Many things shocked them about it. Aaron said, “We live in a world with hundreds of thousands of embryos frozen in the United States alone.”
Embryo Adoption
A Newer Idea
He added, “Most who aren’t selected by their biological parents are donated to science or destroyed or kept frozen.” Can you believe that most embryos simply go to waste? By adopting an embryo, a different person could use it. This was something that sounded perfect for them.
A Newer Idea
Going Ahead
After they did their homework, Aaron and Rachel felt the urge to go ahead with it. They liked the fact that Rachel would get pregnant and give birth to the children. There was something else about it that they liked.
Going Ahead
Support Embryo Adoption
“If Christians – or others – really believe life begins at conception, it follows that we should respond by being willing to support embryo adoption and even take part in it ourselves,” Aaron said. They then dropped by the National Embryo Donation Center so that they could start the operation.
Support Embryo Adoption
Not Easy
Rachel Halbert could not wait to start the process even though she felt nervous and afraid. There were several treatments that she needed to take before she would be ready for the operation. It was a good thing that she did not have any problems. In September 2015, it was time for her to go through the in-vitro fertilization process. At this point, they could not do anything else but to wait for the results.
Not Easy
The Odds
There are a lot of hurdles that one needs to jump over to ensure that the operation goes smoothly. For months, Rachel had to go on hormone treatments to prepare her for it. Luck is also involved in the process. It is quite shocking to hear that there is only a 10 percent chance that the embryo is going to take.
The Odds
Costly
What makes it even more unbelievable is the fact that each attempt goes for $10,000 to $15,000. Mind you, most insurance plans do not cover this process. Not only are they doing a really good deed but they are footing the bill too, an expensive process for something intended to save life.
Costly
Monitoring Her
Like we said, they were already getting ready to leave for Honduras as this was going on. Back then, they were not yet sure if the implantation worked. Despite this, Aaron, Rachel, Catherine, and Ford hopped on a plane headed for Central America. They did not have any time to waste!
Monitoring Her
6 Weeks
They went to a local Honduran hospital six weeks after the in-vitro fertilization process. although away from Missippi they needed to find out if the procedure worked. They were anxious and hopeful but the odds were low. So, did it work?
6 Weeks
The Number
The doctor appeared confused. Something did not add up here. He asked if they were confident that they only had two embryos. The couple replied yes and found out that the implantation worked. Even though they were excited, it turned out that the doctor was not done explaining the situation to them.
The Number
Triplets
When Rachel and Aaron saw the screen on the ultrasound, they figured out what was happening. She was not pregnant with two children but three! It turned out that they were getting triplets. This came as a shock, but they were delighted. They knew that this had to be a sign from God.
Triplets
A Miracle
The entire family was thrilled to hear this. On Facebook, Aaron posted, “I felt sheer delight during this pregnancy watching my son and daughter, with his dark brown skin and her with the ringlet hair and slightly tan skin, kiss my white wife’s growing belly. Each evening they said goodnight to those three growing little girls in her belly.” Even Ford and Catherine could not wait to meet their three little sisters!
A Miracle
Blessed
In 2016, Anne, Ryley, and Whitley Halbert joined the family. Aaron and Rachel felt blessed. He said, “Oh, how thankful we are for God blessing us with these sweet little ones He has placed in our care.” Aaron was ecsatic on the arrival of their baby girls.
Blessed
Three Gifts
This happy dad also said, “As I look at my growing family, I prefer to take it a step further, daring to hope that our family picture is a little hint of Heaven.” Aaron loved his family, what they stood for and was ready to start this new chapter with three new additions.
Three Gifts
Interracial Family
They did not need to be blood-related to be a family. Rachel and Aaron are happy to call them their kids. “The beauty of a multi-ethnic family is found there, in the fact that the differences are the very thing that makes ours richer and fuller.”
Interracial Family
A Dream
It forces you to think in a new way about the way you think, speak, act and live,” he said, “There is something beautiful and enriching being the only white face sitting and chatting with some of my African-American friends as my son gets his hair cut on a Saturday morning,” Aaron said.
A Dream
Overwhelming Support
Fortunately, they have the support of many people. “It’s been heartening to see virtually all of our friends and family express overwhelming support for our family and the unusual ways we’ve built it,” Aaron said, “In our minds, we are just living out our dream. A dream that may not look like the average family, but one that we are thankful could come true in light of our country’s history.”
Overwhelming Support
Different Reactions
Still, there are people who disapprove. “We knew, especially in the South, that a white couple with non-white children would draw a myriad of different reactions. There will always be the older white woman in Walmart who stared at us with sheer disgust or the African-American mother who looked at us and just shook her head,” Aaron told the Washington Post, “There was also the young black girl who wept when we told her this little boy with her skin color was our son, and the older white doctor who lovingly prayed over him and held him so tenderly.”
Different Reactions
They Don’t Mind
Even though they had to deal with those looks, they did not mind. Aaron explained, “One of the central themes of Christianity is, after all, that God, through His Son, is calling people from every tongue, tribe, and nation. Grasping diversity will make the world stronger as we marvel at God’s creative genius on display through His people’s varying pigments, personalities, and proficiencies. Our differences are cause for celebration, not scorn.”
They Don’t Mind
The Complexity
“Embryo adoption can also be very difficult for the donor family. I know the decision to donate your frozen embryos for adoption is probably the hardest you’ll ever make,” explained Rachel, “It can be so painful to know that someone else is raising your biological children. For some reason, whether medical or family size or financial or age, you are unable to have any more transfers.”
The Complexity
The Experience
We are glad to hear that embryo adoption worked perfectly for Aaron and Rachel. She said that she had a “beautiful and unique” experience. She is thankful for the “brave and selfless” birth parents as well.
The Experience
Its Importance
They believe that embryo adoption should be more mainstream. With millions of unused embryos, they can’t believe that not many people know about it. The embryos they used had been donated 12 years ago! “We were not saying that those lives are any more important than the lives of the babies and children waiting to be adopted all across the world. No, they are not any more important, but they are no less important either. All of our children’s lives are valued,” Rachel explained.
Its Importance
Mother Of Five
If you want to have a lot of free time, don’t have kids! Even though Rachel is busy looking after the family, she loves doing it. “I would imagine that my life as mom looks a whole lot like the life of any mom. My days are filled with feeding five hungry kiddos, changing lots of diapers, tending to household duties, shepherding little hearts, loving on and playing with all five, doing/learning how to do hair of four beautiful girls and one handsome little guy, and finding a minute or two to eat some food myself.”
Mother Of Five
A Family
The Halberts adopted these children with nothing but love in their hearts. Rachel always wanted a big family, but she did not expect that she would get it this way! It is a good thing that there is enough love to go around in their house. We are sure that Aaron and Rachel are some of the best parents out there.
A Family
The Future
Asked if they want kids, the couple said they did not know yet. Rachel said, “We’ll see what the future holds. For now, we are enjoying this phase of life right now.” It must be hard enough to have five kids in the house already. Hopefully, this story is going to help people take embryo adoption into consideration.
The Future
New Team
The family moved to Tegucigalpa when the triplets joined the family. Aaron and Rachel work on giving back to the less fortunate. They also look after the kids together! Now a full-time mom, we are sure that Rachel always has her plate full. Despite this, the family is still working on spreading the gospel!
New Team
Square One
In Tegucigalpa, Aaron and Rachel are doing missionary work. The kids get to grow up in Honduras and the United States of America. Even though they are not a traditional family, the house is always full of love. If you ask us, that is the true definition of what a family is.
Square One