Country Singer Thomas Rhett and Wife Bring Home Newly Adopted Daughter From Uganda
After their yearlong adoption journey, Thomas Rhett welcomed home their newly adopted daughter, Willa Gray Arkins, from Uganda. Blessings came in twos for the country singer who had long prayed for a child, after he announced that wife Lauren Gregory Arkins is also pregnant.
Last May 12, Thomas took to Instagram to introduce their bundle of joy. "The Lord blessed us with the most amazing little girl we could have ever dreamed of and we can't wait to watch her grow up!" he posted. "Thank you to everyone who prayed every single day for this sweet girl," he added.
Thomas, 26, and Lauren, 27, had been married for four years and had since been working to have a baby. It shouldn't be a problem for Lauren who came from a big family. As time drew on, however, the two took inspiration from Lauren's mother who was an adopted child and thought about the idea.
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People reported that they became interested in adopting through their work with non-profit organization 147 Million Orphans, for which Lauren, who had a nursing degree, had embarked on mission trips to Uganda and Haiti, while Thomas raised over $250,000 for the group with a benefit concert.
"We tried to get pregnant for a little bit before," said Lauren. "It was a good chunk of time and our family is extremely fertile, so I was expecting it to happen easily. I was like, 'Maybe this is the Lord's way of telling me adoption is what he wants me to do.' And I was okay with that," she added.
An announcement was made they were processing the adoption during their wedding anniversary on October last year. Last December, while on a weeklong safari in Tanzania, Lauren didn't feel well, which she dismissed as food poisoning. But Thomas half-jokingly told her to take a pregnancy test which she did.
Lo and behold, the test turned positive. She is pregnant with a baby girl. "[W]e feel more than blessed," a shocked Lauren said who felt like she was expecting twins. "It's funny to me how we tried so hard and then we didn't try at all and it happened!" she added. "We feel like it's all part of a plan," she went on to say.
They made their double announcement on Feb. 15 on Instagram with a photo of them holding inflatable gold balloons that spelled out baby. Thomas said he has custom-made his bus and made it baby-friendly to accommodate bunk beds, baby cribs and even dog crates.
