Foster care can provide safety and stability, but it does not necessarily mean that a child knows where they will spend the rest of their childhood.
For Laine and her siblings, that uncertainty remained part of everyday life.
There were court dates.
There were rules.
There were visitation arrangements.
There was the possibility that circumstances could change again.
Laine has explained that before the adoption became final, she felt intense pressure to do everything correctly. She worried that making a mistake could somehow jeopardize the family she was trying to protect.
That pressure is understandable.
She was still incredibly young.
And she was raising children who had already experienced trauma and instability.
The family was not simply learning how to live together.
They were learning how to trust that their lives could remain stable.
The federal government's child-welfare resources recognize that kinship caregivers often need support with legal issues, financial sustainability, parenting, community connections and their own emotional well-being.
Laine needed all of those things.
She was simultaneously caregiver, sister, student, employee and legal advocate.
There was no simple role she could step into.
She had to become all of them at once.
Two Years Later, the Adoption Became Official
After approximately two years of legal battles, the biggest moment finally arrived.
At 21, Baylee Laine officially adopted all four of her younger siblings.
The children were no longer simply siblings living in the same home.
They were legally her children.
For Laine, the significance went beyond paperwork.
The adoption meant the family had reached a level of permanence that foster care could not provide.
She no longer had to live with the same fear that the state, a court decision or another development could suddenly change their family structure.
She could finally breathe.
The adoption did not erase everything that had happened before.
It did not magically remove the children's memories.
It did not make Laine's sacrifices disappear.
But it gave the family something they had been missing for years: certainty.
They belonged together.
And they knew it.
Healing Did Not Happen Overnight
Stories like this can sometimes be reduced to a simple inspirational formula:
Young woman makes sacrifice.
Children are rescued.
Adoption is finalized.
Happy ending.
Real life is more complicated.
Laine has spoken openly about how difficult the early period was for the children. They had experienced trauma and instability, and adjusting to a safe home did not happen immediately.
She described moments when the children were extremely attached to her and struggled with separation. Their reactions reflected the fear and uncertainty they had experienced before arriving in her care.
This is consistent with what child-welfare experts describe about caring for children who have experienced complex trauma.
The Administration for Children and Families, for example, highlights trauma-informed approaches that help foster and kinship caregivers strengthen attachment, understand children's emotional responses and promote stability and permanency.
In other words, a safe house is important.
But safety is not only about four walls.
For a child who has experienced repeated uncertainty, safety can also mean learning that an adult will continue to be there tomorrow.
And the day after that.
And the day after that.
Trust is built through repetition.
The Moment the Family Finally Felt Peace
According to Laine, one of the most meaningful changes came around 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
The world outside was experiencing extraordinary uncertainty.
But inside Laine's home, something unexpected happened.