HOW BEAUTIFUL
I’m raising my husband’s ex-wife’s baby – we took him in at 11 days old & I’ve never met his real mum
Chrissie is determined to keep his mum's memory alive
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, got a phone call in August 2021 to say his ex-wife was in hospital with Covid and was pregnant.
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Wesley was warned his ex-wife was extremely unwell and Christie told her partner that if the worst was to happen they would adopt and raise the unborn child.
His ex-wife gave birth to Levi at 33 weeks after being induced but five days later died after having a stroke.
Devastated, Christie - who was a foster child herself - reached out to the Child Protection Service (CPS) and told them she and Wesley wanted to raise Levi.
Fearful he would be fostered while the adoption was considered, the family moved 1,400 miles from Toledo, Ohio, to San Antonio, Texas.
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They fostered 11-day-old Levi - and adopted him over a year later.
Levi, now two, is "part of the family" - alongside 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 kid myself and I didn't want him to go into the foster care system.
"We sold our home and moved to Texas. He was placed with me right off the bat.
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"Everyone was on board with the move as it was to keep Levi out of foster care.
"It was difficult for the kids as they had settled and had friends - we had been established in our town.
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"We just wanted to make sure Levi was with us."
Wesley, a crane operator, added: "I did not think twice about adopting Levi.
"I fell in love with him immediately. I had the same love for him as I did my other children.
"He has made me realize I needed to stop making work a priority and focus on being a dad more than a provider.
"I worked so much when my other kids were smaller, I missed a lot. He also makes me excited about the small 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 under a year later in July 2019.
Both couples had children from separate relationships - she had two, now aged 22 and 15, and he had two now 15 and 11.
In August 2021, Wesley got a phone call from his ex-wife's sister saying his former 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 4lbs 9oz.
We all wanted to make sure that Levi was with us but transitioning children to another state was hard.
Chrissie Werts
She said: "It wasn't easy.
"As Levi was born in Texas and we lived in Ohio we could have done a state transfer to foster him but that would take one year at least.
"He would 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 former sister-in-law for a month before the family moved in October 2021.
She said: "We all wanted to make sure that Levi was with us but transitioning children to another state was hard.
"Eventually everyone settled, especially Levi's half-siblings."
After living in San Antonio, Texas, for 16 months, the family have moved back to Toledo, Ohio, where they live on a farm.
Despite Levi being a few days old when his mum died, Christie said she is determined to keep his mum's memory alive.
She said: "We have started having little conversations with him but he doesn't comprehend it completely.
"I am going to put pictures in his room and have her visible - we are not going to hide her from him.
"We will tell Levi he is very loved but we know he will go through emotions, having his brother and sister with him will be good.
Levi's family story and adoption
Wesley married his ex-wife married in 2008 before splitting in 2015. He met Chrissie three years later and they married in 2019.
In 2021, they received the devastating phone call that his ex-wife may die as she was pregnant and in hospital with COVID-19.
She gave birth but unfortunately died five days later after having a stroke.
Wesley and Chrissie decided quickly they would adopt her little boy but they had to move from Toledo, Ohio, to San Antonio, Texas to make sure they would be the ones to adopt him.
They stayed with Wesley's ex-wife's sister for a month, and though it 'unsettled' their children from different relationships, they are now back in Ohio.
They said he is a happy little boy and Chrissie wants to make sure his mum's memory is kept alive and he grows up to know who she is.
"I am going to write a personalised book and share his mum'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.
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"If I am cooking I will invite him, we live on a farm, he is very independent and very smart.
"He knows his alphabet and he is full of life and curiosity, he is the youngest in our family and the centre of our attention."