“It’s something we’ve worked for and hoped for for so long and it’s just a dream come true,” Lauren says. I did my own makeup, and this is not waterproof,” the host said as she attempted to wave away her tears. RELATED VIDEO: Thomas Rhett and Wife Lauren Welcome Daughter Willa Gray: “Everyone Is Where They’re Supposed to Be”, Lauren, in Uganda without Thomas Rhett (who was on tour), spent the next two days “attached” to the little girl. She thought that “Maybe this is the Lord’s way of telling me adoption is what he wants me to do.” However, the pair found out Lauren was pregnant in. Part of the A360 Media Entertainment Group. At the time, Lauren and Thomas Rhett had been trying to get pregnant with no luck, and had just begun to consider adoption. Country singer Thomas Rhett and wife Lauren Akins are … Different caretakers every day, different kids picking her up. So, with only days until Willa would be ready to travel, Lauren had to return, leaving her mother to bring the toddler home. Nicki Minaj Shares First Snap Of Newborn Baby Boy With Hubby Kenneth Petty, 'Bachelorette' Alum Emily Maynard Reveals Her Fifth Child's Adorable Name, Pregnant Meghan Trainor Reveals The Sex Of Her First Child — Find Out Here, Surfer Bethany Hamilton Is Pregnant With Baby No. “Her whole life has been nothing but being passed around. But the couple soon learned that making Willa their child legally would be far more complicated. this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. Text us for exclusive photos and videos, royal news, and way more. “So we pulled up in the car and expected it to be low key, but holy crap, half of Nashville was there!”. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! To comply with Uganda’s complex adoption laws, they were required to foster the baby in country over the course of a year. Fill out the form below, or call us at (866) 667-2327. “She really does live up to her nickname in Uganda: She is just the biggest little Blessing that ever has walked the earth.”. Lauren, approaching the third trimester of her pregnancy, traveled back to Uganda once again — this time with her mother, hoping that she’d be flying back with a toddler in her arms. Thomas Rhett opens up about new baby, sings new song ‘Be a Light’. And we had talked about it off and on, but it wasn’t something that we’d sat down and had a full-on adoption conversation.”. And then there were five! Bringing her back to the orphanage wasn’t an option.”, RELATED: Thomas Rhett and Wife Lauren Expecting a Baby – and Adopting a Child from Africa, Nearly a month after Lauren arrived in Uganda, they learned that Willa would, at last, be legally theirs. “I was so moved,” Akins said. I’m pretty sure every flight was booked a day before we left either place, because you can’t plan it. “I went over with Lauren in December for about seven weeks, and the room we were staying in with Willa almost started to feel like home,” the singer says. “I’d always talked about adopting my whole life,” Akins, 30, explained. You touch them, and you hold somebody, and it doesn’t matter if it’s yours or not — we’re a blended family — and you’re like, this is my purpose. RELATED: Thomas Rhett Talks “Getting Into Daddy Mode” on the ACMs Red Carpet with Pregnant Wife Lauren, But one more unexpected complication was awaiting the new family at the airport. And it’s been one blessing after another since then. “Willa was so attached to me and Lauren, and Lauren’s mom, that to bring her back to the orphanage at that point would have been completely detrimental,” the singer says.