Sadly, one of his babies left this world, but Ben Carpenter still calls himself a father of six.
One of the children said about his father:
“Daddy is the best daddy in the world.”
When Ben was only 21 years of age, he adopted Jack and gave the boy with autism a future to look forward to. Ever since, the dad with the heart of gold provided a home to five more children with disabilities and is thinking about making the family even bigger.
The 37-year-old single father from the United Kingdom always knew he wanted to have a big family one day.
“I’ve always known what I wanted. I never wanted to become a biological dad because being a parent is so much more than that,” he said, according to Mirror.
“I wanted to help kids that were the most vulnerable and the ones that were most in need of a loving and caring home.”
Regarding the adoptions, Ben said:
“I had a lot to prove at such a young age. I needed to show that I was mature enough and could offer these kids what they needed. The good thing about adoption that you can’t do in pregnancy is picking the gender of the child.”
The first member of the family was Jack, now 14 years of age.
“To begin with I chose a boy and then a girl because I thought that would be the perfect set up and luckily got accepted and matching with my son and daughter, Jack and Ruby,” Ben said. “I was then asked if I would take my biological daughter’s sister which I agreed to do.”
Ruby, 11 has a complex disability, while her sister Lilly, 9, is deaf.
“So I had two girls and one boy and I thought I should even it out again and adopt another son,” Ben said. “So I applied for a boy with Down Syndrome and within three days I was matched to a baby boy who had just been born with the condition.”
6-year-old Joseph is Ben’s fourth child with Down Syndrome.
A little later, Teddy joined the family.
“I then had my five kids and I was so happy. They were all doing amazing,” Ben said.
Sadly, Teddy died in 2019 due to sepsis and left Ben’s heart in pieces.
“I was devastated and I felt guilty for a while because I kept wondering if there was something I could have done to fix it,” Ben recalled.
Ben needed a while to recover from the loss of Teddy.
Last year, the single father welcomed another child in need to the big happy family. His name is Louis, and he is blind and has cerebral palsy, Yorkshire Live reported.
Ben said about Louis:
“He is a wonderful little boy with a wicked personality and I’m extremely proud to call my son.”
But even after Teddy’s passing, Ben still calls himself a father of six.
He is also proud to have had the chance to make a difference in these kids’ lives.
“I love all my children with all my heart and I love seeing them achieve and thrive. It is the most wonderful feeling as a parent, especially knowing that their futures were bleak,” Ben said.
As reported by the Mirror, Ben made a touching conclusion, saying:
“As much as I have changed their life, they have also changed mine. And I would never say never to having another child.”
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