Why I Became a Foster Parent... & Why I'm Quitting.

Baby fever hit hard last year. At 32 years old, my female biology screamed about starting a family. But I wasn't ready. How else could I satisfy the craving to have a baby?

This got me wondering: Do I even want kids one day? Is starting my own family something that's important to me? Would I be happy in the lifestyle of a parent? How much does that matter to me?

Being on the dating apps for the first time, it asks about that: Want kids? Don't want kids? Unsure? Is that a deal-breaker in a romantic partnership?

I did not know the answer.

And then I learned the truth: There are over 1,000 children in foster care just in my county, and not nearly enough homes to house them.

It felt like a higher purpose called me towards fostering.

Since helping raise my 3 younger brothers, I've always been good with kids. I even had my own childcare business for nearly 10 years.

I realized this season of life might be the only time I have the resources, including time, to be a foster parent.

So I dove in.

And now, a year later, I'm quitting.

[TO BE CONTINUED]

Being part of a broken system is too horrendous to bear. I thought: "I can't fix a broken system, but I can be a light in the darkness." I was wrong. The darkness has already won.

At just 2 years old, Jaxon Juarez (age 2) died in April 2026 after being physically and sexually assaulted by his 17 year old cousin living in the same house. Jaxon should not even have been placed there: his foster mom had a felony child endangerment conviction that legally should have barred her from fostering.

At just 3 months old, Phoenix Castro died of a fentanyl overdose in 2023, along with Winter Rayo at 18 months old, both murdered by their own parents.

At just 6 years old, Jordan Cam Walker was stabbed to death by his uncle while in foster care with his elderly (71 years old) grandmother who was also murdered.

[TO BE CONTINUED]