Allison and Josh Lewis met at A Samford University bible class and have been together ever since. The couple married in 2000 and have been building their family and a home together over those years. They had three biological children- Abby, Jack, and Isabel- before they decided to adopt Micah from Ethiopia in 2011. They had their fourth biological child in 2013, a daughter named Julia. The couple thought that their family was complete, until they got a phone call out-of-the-blue.
On October 30th, 2015, and Allison’s 38th birthday, the family got a call that would change their lives. The couple’s friend and adoption attorney knew of a woman who was going into labor at the Duke University Hospital ten hours away from the family in Durham, North Carolina. The woman was not able to keep the baby boy that she was about to give birth to. The attorney wanted to know if the Lewis family might be interested in adopting him. The family quickly decided that the new baby was going to a member of their family, so they loaded into their van and left Birmingham, Alabama to make the trip to meet their new member in North Carolina.
On the way to the Duke University Hospital, Allison got a call from their adoption attorney that left them stunned- the mother was having twins! Unfortunately doctors soon found out that it was unlikely that the second baby was going to survive for long, and may not even survive through the C-section they had planned. Sam was born first at 5lbs, he was healthy. Ava was born second at 3.5lbs. Doctors told the family that she was born without a brain. They also told the family that they would understand if they did not want to take on the burden of Ava, after all she is not what they signed up for. Without consulting each other, Allison and Josh said together, “She’s our daughter”. They were ready to take on whatever time they could have as a family with Ava.
After spending nearly six weeks in the hospital, Ava was finally able to go home with her family. While they have no idea how much time they will be able to have with her, they are grateful for all the time that they do have. The couple have said that the other children know that their time with Ava will be short and that they need to pack in all the love that they can for her during this time.