Kimberly Schlapman Shares Her Family’s Heartwarming Adoption Story

Kimberly Schlapman is sharing the story about her family’s adoption in honor of National Adoption Month. Schlapman, who is one-fourth of the GRAMMY-winning quartet, Little Big Town, took to social media to highlight how adoption impacted her life in an effort to raise awareness about the cause.

She Was Told Getting Pregnant Would Not Be Easy

Schlapman, who once hosted a cooking show called Kimberly’s Simply Southern, is a mother of two: Daisy and Dolly. She once told People that she and her husband, Steve Schlapman, conceived Daisy on their honeymoon and that it came as a complete surprise as she was told getting pregnant would be nearly impossible due to endometriosis. 

Her marriage and pregnancy came after the tragic loss of Kimberly’s first husband, Steven Roads, who passed away in 2005 from a heart attack, according to Country Living. 

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A post shared by Kimberly Schlapman (@ohgussie)

“I believe, 100%, that my Steve in heaven sent me a wedding gift, and it was that baby girl,” she once told People. “I believe he got up there and said, ‘Hey God, this woman has been in a lot of pain. We’ve got to give her what she’s always wanted.’” 

Suffered Devastating Pregnancy Loss

The couple fell in love with their baby girl and soon after, Schlapman says they began trying for another child. She recalled suffering a miscarriage and ultimately trying everything in their power to conceive again. 

“We started trying much harder at that point. We did all the medical things, the artificial insemination at first, and then in vitro fertilization as we got more serious,” she revealed. 

“After years of infertility, loss, tears, and millions of prayers, thank God we came to the realization that we were supposed to adopt,” Schlapman shared on Instagram. 

Adopted Dolly Grace

That’s when Dolly entered their lives. In January 2017, the Schlapman family introduced the world to Dolly Grace. They welcomed her through domestic adoption, according to The Tennessean, and joined their family on New Year’s Eve. This came just days after Daisy asked Santa for a baby at Christmas.  

“The love we have for our little Dolly is the exact same love we have for our daughter, Daisy, whom I carried. We are family. We don’t have to share the same DNA to experience the same love,” the singer shared. 

She went on to acknowledge the challenges one may face when going through the adoption process but encouraged people to seek it out despite the difficulties.  

“Adopting isn’t easy. It can be difficult, expensive, exhausting, and very emotional, but the immense joy that it leads to outweighs every bit of hardship. If you feel called to adopt, I want to encourage you to take that first step, and then keep believing until your child is in your arms,” she wrote in closing. 

In 2021, when detailing their adoption story with People, Schlapman revealed that Dolly is aware of her story and is “proud” of it. 

“We wanted her to know right off that she was adopted; we wanted to start talking about that even before she could understand the word adoption,” she explained. 

Wrote A Children’s Book About Adoption

Kimberly Schlapman authored a book called A Dolly For Christmas shares the story about how their daughter Daisy prayed and wished for a sibling. The children’s book was released in 2020 and includes a foreword by Daisy. She hopes the book inspires those who are navigating adoption. 

“I just want people to be hopeful and to know that if they’re in the middle of a struggle, they are not alone,” she told People. “We walked those same roads, and they are very, very difficult. But, in the end, there is restoration and there are children who are waiting for them.”  

Kimberly Schlapman often shares photos of her daughters on Instagram where they occasionally join her in the kitchen to whip up delicious food.