At 19, Baylee Laine Gave Up a Scholarship and Two Jobs to Raise Her Four Younger Siblings

Baylee Laine was 19 when she made a choice that changed the course of five children’s lives: she turned down a full university softball scholarship and stayed to care for her four younger siblings.

Her family life had been unstable for years. Laine said her parents separated when she was five and divorced soon afterward. Child Protective Services became involved by the time she was eight, and custody of Laine and her brother moved to their father.

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By the time I was 8, CPS got involved.

Laine continued helping with her younger siblings during visits to her mother’s home. She said her mother had four more children with two other men, and that the household repeatedly changed as new partners came and went. When her mother had twins, Laine felt increasingly caught between school, softball and caring for children who were not her own.

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I was a softball player and had a full ride to play softball.

“I was a softball player and had a full ride to play softball,” Laine told People. She had planned to leave the situation, move out of state and start college. But as departure approached, she kept thinking about her siblings and what would happen to them.

In October 2017, CPS placed all four children in Laine’s care through a foster arrangement. She worked two jobs and at times slept in a legal office while pursuing custody. The adoption process ended two years later, when Laine was 21. She eventually adopted all four siblings and now raises them with her biological daughter. A TikTok video tracing the family’s path from foster care to their life together has recently brought renewed attention to her story.

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These kids are going to be all alone.