A woman raises her husband’s ex-wife’s child after she dies five days after giving birth.
Christie Werts, 49, and husband, Wesley46, received a phone call in August 2021 saying his ex-wife was in the hospital with Covid and pregnant.
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Wesley was warned that his ex-wife was seriously 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 Levi at 33 weeks, after labor was induced. However, she died five days later from a stroke.
Christie, who was a foster child herself, became upset and contacted Child Protective Services, telling them that she and Wesley wanted to foster Levi.
Fearing he would end up in foster care while adoption was being considered, the family moved 1,400 miles (2,250 kilometers) from Toledo, Ohio, to San Antonio, Texas.
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They took in 11-day-old Levi and adopted him just over a year later.
Levi, now two years old, is ‘part of the family’, along with their four children from Christine and Wesley’s previous marriages.
Christie, who works in IT and has never met Wesley’s ex-wife, lives in Toledo, Ohio and said, “I was a foster child myself and I didn’t want him to end up in foster care.
“We sold our house and moved to Texas and he was placed with me right away.
“Everyone agreed with the decision to keep Levi out of foster care.
“It was hard for the children, who had already settled down and made friends. After all, we were settled in our city.
“We just wanted to make sure Levi was with us.”
Wesley, a crane operator, added: “I never thought about adopting Levi.
“I fell in love with him immediately. I had the same love for him as I had for my other children.
“He made me realize that I needed to stop prioritizing work and focus more on my role as a father than as a breadwinner.
“I worked so much when my other children were younger, I missed out on a lot. He also makes me enthusiastic 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 couple married less than a year later, in July 2019.
Both couples had children from different relationships: she had two, now aged 22 and 15, and he had two, now aged 15 and 11.
In August 2021, Wesley received a phone call from his ex-wife’s sister. She told him that his ex-partner was 33 weeks pregnant and in the hospital with COVID.
Christie said, “When my husband told me what was going on, I told him we could take the baby.”
Levi was born on August 23, 2021 and weighed 2.1 kilos.
We all wanted to make sure Levi would be with us, but it was difficult moving children to another state.
Chrissie Werts
She said, “It wasn’t easy.
“Because Levi was born in Texas and we lived in Ohio, we could have moved him out of state to foster him, but that would have taken at least a year.
“He would end up in a foster home at that time and we didn’t want that.”
Christie moved to Texas in September 2021 and stayed with her husband’s former sister-in-law for a month before the family relocated in October 2021.
She said: “We all wanted to make sure Levi would be with us, but it was difficult moving children to another state.
“In the end, everyone was happy, especially Levi’s half-siblings.”
After living in San Antonio, Texas, for 16 months, the family moved back to Toledo, Ohio, where they live on a farm.
Although Levi was only a few days old when his mother died, Christie says she is determined to keep his mother’s memory alive.
She said: “We’ve had little conversations with him, but he doesn’t quite understand it yet.
“I’m going to put pictures in his room and make sure she’s visible. We’re not going to hide her from him.
“We will tell Levi that we love him very much, but we know that he will also experience emotions. It will be nice to have his brother and sister with him.
Levi’s Family Story and Adoption
Wesley married his ex-wife, married in 2008 and separated in 2015. Three years later he met Chrissie and they married in 2019.
In 2021, they received the terrible phone call that his ex-wife might die. She was pregnant and in the hospital with COVID-19.
She gave birth, but unfortunately died five days later of a stroke.
Wesley and Chrissie quickly decided they would adopt her little boy, but they had to move from Toledo, Ohio, to San Antonio, Texas to ensure they would be the ones to adopt him.
They stayed with Wesley’s ex-wife’s sister for a month and although this took their children away from their old relationships, they are now back in Ohio.
They said he is a happy little boy and that Chrissie wants to make sure his mother’s memory stays alive and that he grows up with the knowledge she has.
“I’m going to write a personal 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’ll invite him to try to do things with me.
“If I am to cook I will invite him, we live on a farm, he is very independent and very smart.
“He knows the alphabet and is full of life and curiosity. He is the youngest in our family and the center of our attention.”
