THOMASVILLE, Ga. (WALB)— Dawn Velez and Ashlyn Murphy are mothers who each have biological and adopted children.

Velez has two older sons by birth and two younger children through adoption.

“Just it’s been an amazing life. The Lord has blessed us tremendously with our kids,” Velez said.

Murphy adopted her first child after uncertainty about whether he would enter the foster care system.

“But it was just the Lord’s hand through it all that he ended up coming home with us and that he’s with us today,” Murphy said.

Velez’s biological parents served as foster parents, setting the stage for her to follow their example.

“That is where the seed was planted for sure. I helped take care of babies, and all through my high school years, I fell in love with children in foster care. And it gave me a great passion for those children that did not have permanency and did not have families,” Velez said.

Murphy and her husband decided when they dated that they wanted to adopt a child. Once they married, they started the adoption process.

“The first words out of my co-worker’s mouth was, ‘Ashlyn, we have a baby, and if y’all don’t say yes to this, I don’t where to go with this case,’ and so when she shared all the details, we were like no hesitation. ‘Yes, we want to say yes to it,’” Murphy said.

Murphy later had a biological child.

“We ended up having a biological child after him by surprise. And I get the question all the time, do you love both of them the same? And I’m like, ‘Of course. Both came to us differently, but the love for both of them is the same,’” Murphy said.

“These are my kids. There is no delineation between whether I birthed them or whether I received them into my home through a different manner,” Velez said.

Both Velez and Murphy work for Open Door Option Agency in Thomasville and encourage parents with an interest in expanding their families to consider adoption.

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