'I'm a single mum who adopted 6 sisters - I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be'
A 44-year-old woman from Kentucky has made her dreams to be a mother to lots of children come true as she has adopted six sisters from foster care.
On November 23, IT expert for the military Mandi Septer adopted six sisters from foster care: Alaynah, 16, Alyviah, 14, Alyssah, 13, Alyciah, 11, Alyse, 9, and Julie, 3. The siblings have a seventh sister, Aaliyah, 19, who Ms Septer considers a daughter too.
Ms Septer had never had children of her own. “I was traditional in that I wanted to get married before I had kids,” Ms Septer, 44, told TODAY.com. “But God had a different plan for me... I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be," she explained.
Despite considering artificial insemination, adoption called out to her. Before she knew it, a handful of these siblings were in her care and she was prioritizing being a mother above anything else.
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Ms Septer is quick to emphasise that she cannot take all the credit for her daughters' success (Getty Images/iStockphoto)Alaynah, Alyviah, Alyssah and Alyciah had already been living with Ms Septer for a few months in foster care when the phone rang. Change was imminent.
“She was like, ‘There are more sisters and they are little. What do you think?’” Ms Septer said.
“I told her I had to do some research and think, but there was never any doubt. Of course I was going to say yes.”
They all met at a restaurant to check out how things could work.
“There was so much hugging and kissing,” Ms Septer shared, but noted how quiet the car journey home was.
“One of them said absolutely nothing,” Ms Septer remembered, through tears. “I pulled her aside and she said, ‘I don’t understand why we can’t be with our sisters. I miss my sisters.'”
Her mind was made up. She would be raising them all. Despite her busy career, she has become even busier these days, shuttling her daughters to all their after-school activities, wanting to give them every opportunity she can.
“I tell my kids, ‘if you want to do something, I’ll make it happen,’ Ms Septer said.
“My third-grader went to state last year for cross country. She does track. She plays basketball. I just want to give them as many opportunities as I can.”
Ms Septer officially adopted the girls, who call her 'Mandi or “Mimi,' on Nov. 17, 2023 (Getty Images/iStockphoto)The eldest daughter may not have been raised by Ms Septer, but the two have bonded well. Aaliyah, 19, is not legally Septer’s daughter but the nursing student is pregnant with her first child.
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“Mandi will be in the delivery room when I give birth,” Aaliyah tells TODAY.com. “She’s bought a majority of the baby stuff and planned my shower.”
"She calls me with questions about the pregnancy, which is kind of funny because I've never been through pregnancy," Ms Septer laughs.
Aaliyah had raised the girls for the most part until that point.
“At first it was kind of hard, you know, to let someone else mother them, but I quickly realized that she was OK. That this was a good person,” Aaliyah says. “She’s the reason I’m in school. She believes in us.”
Ms Septer is quick to emphasise that she cannot take all the credit for her daughters' success.
“From my understanding, the girls all had good grades even before I came along. One of them was deemed gifted,” Septer reveals. “But we have to work on stuff like saying ‘please and thank you.’ Just things they hadn’t been taught.”
Ms Septer officially adopted the girls, who call her “Mandi or “Mimi,” on Nov. 17, 2023 — the day before National Adoption Day. Septer wants the family to feel as big and welcoming as possible.
“Mom is what they call their biological mom,” Septer said, “The goal is we’ll both be at soccer games together. I would love that. There’s room for everyone.”
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