A woman is raising her husband’s ex-wife’s baby after she died five days after giving birth.
Christie Werts, 49, and husband Wesley, 46, received a call in August 2021 to say his ex-wife was in hospital with Covid and was pregnant.
Wesley was warned that his ex-wife was terminally ill, and Christie told her partner that if the worst happened, they would adopt and raise the unborn child.
His ex-wife gave birth to Levin at 33 weeks after being induced, but died five days later after suffering a stroke.
Devastated, Christie – who was a foster child herself – contacted Child Protective Services (CPS) and told them that she and Wesley wanted to raise Levi.
Fearing he would be housed while adoption was considered, the family moved 1,400 miles from Toledo, Ohio, to San Antonio, Texas.
They fostered 11-day-old Levi — and adopted him more than a year later.
Levi, now two, is “part of the family” – along with their four children from Christine and Wesley’s previous marriages.
Christie, who works in IT – who had never met Wesley’s ex-wife – from Toledo, Ohio, said: ‘I was a foster child myself and I didn’t want him to go into the foster care system.
“We sold our house and moved to Texas. He settled in with me right off the bat.
“Everyone was on board with the move, as it was to keep Levi out of foster care.
“It was hard for the kids as they were settled and had friends – we were settled in our town.
“We just wanted to make sure Levi was with us.”
Wesley, a crane operator, added: “I didn’t think twice about adopting Levi.
“I immediately fell in love with him. I had the same love for him as the other children.
“He made me realize that I needed to stop making work a priority and focus on being a father more than a provider.
“I worked so much when my other children were younger that I missed it a lot. It also gets me excited about the little things again.”
Wesley and his ex were married for eight years but split in 2015.
Christie met Wesley in December 2018 and the pair married a year later in July 2019.
Both couples had children from separate relationships – she had two, now 22 and 15, and he had two now 15 and 11.
In August 2021, Wesley received a call from his ex-wife’s sister saying his ex-partner was 33 weeks pregnant and in hospital with Covid.
Christie said: “When my husband told me what was happening, I told him we could take the baby.”
Levi was born on August 23, 2021, weighing 4 lbs 9 oz.
She said: “It was not easy.
“Since Levi was born in Texas and we lived in Ohio, we could have done a state transfer to foster him, but that would have taken at least a year.
“He was going to go into foster care during that time and we didn’t want that.”
Christie moved to Texas in September 2021 and stayed with her husband’s ex-sister-in-law for a month before the family moved in October 2021.
She said: “We all wanted to make sure Levi was with us, but moving the children to another country was difficult.
“Eventually everyone settled in, especially Levi’s half-siblings.”
After living in San Antonio, Texas, for 16 months, the family returned to Toledo, Ohio, where they live on a farm.
Despite Levi being a few days old when his mother died, Christie said she was determined to keep his mother’s memory alive.
She said: “We’ve started to have a few conversations with him, but he doesn’t quite understand.
“I will put pictures in his room and make it visible – we will not hide it from him.
“We will tell Levi that he is loved, but we know he will be emotional, having his brother and sister with him will be fine.
“I’m going to write a personalized book and share his mother’s story with him.”
Christie said Levi is “independent” and “full of life”.
She said: “He wants to do everything himself. I will invite him to try and do things with me.
“If I’m cooking I’ll invite him, we live on a farm, he’s very independent and very smart.
“He knows his alphabet and is full of life and curiosity, he is the youngest in our family and the center of our attention.”
#raising #husbands #exwifes #child #tragic
Image Source : nypost.com