Young Woman Goes from NYC Model to Adoptive Mother of Three within a Year

Two years ago, Jessica Hanna was a model and hairdresser in New York City. Now, thanks to a strange set of circumstances, she's the proud mother of four children—one biological, and three adopted.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on August 11 2009

Image: iStockphoto

A couple of years ago, Jessica Hanna (then Marchel) was working as a model and a hairdresser in New York City. Today, she’s happily married in Ellensburg, Washington, and is a mother of four.

You’re probably thinking quadruplets, but you’d be wrong: Jessica and her husband, Tom Hanna, are the proud parents of 3-year-old Nick, 18-month-old Nathan, 9-month-old Marchel, and 7-month-old Hailey. And while just one of the four children is related to the couple by blood, the family is as tightly-knit as any you could imagine.

When Jessica returned home to Ellensburg for a family visit two years ago, she was planning to get back to her jet-setting life in New York as soon as she had the opportunity. But after a former classmate invited her over to see her son Nick, Hanna knew that she had an obligation to stick around.

“I came and looked at him and he was in a total meth house,” Jessica told the Daily Record. She called State Protective Services immediately to get him removed from his mother’s care—and, because the mother had no other appropriate connections, the baby was entrusted to Jessica’s care. Just 21 years old, she knew that her former life of urban glamour was over—but something even better had taken its place.

Knowing that she wouldn’t be returning to New York City, Jessica decided to get connected with her local community again. She met Tom Hanna at church, and worried that she had scared him off by telling him that she had a baby. But her confession had done just the opposite: “I admired the fact that she had left everything that she had in New York so that she could take care of this kid,” he said.

Within just a few months, the young couple was married. Several months after that, Jessica discovered that she was pregnant: Nick would have a little sister.

But their family wasn’t done growing just yet: while Jessica was pregnant, she received another phone call from the State Protective Services. It turned out that Nick had a half-brother, Nathan, who was currently in foster care. The agency was wondering if Tom and Jessica would like to adopt the six-month-old baby. They jumped at the chance.

In October 2008, Jessica gave birth to a daughter, Marchel. They hadn’t planned to have any more children for quite some time—but as it turned out, her meth-addicted acquaintance had just had another baby, too. Just six weeks after Marchel’s birth, Jessica received yet another call, asking her if she’d like to adopt the woman’s third child.

Though Jessica was already dealing with the challenges of life with a newborn, she said yes without a second thought. “How quick can you get here?” asked the Protective Services agent. “She’s hungry.”

The Hannas loaded up the car that day to go and pick up baby Hailey, who was just two days old.

Even with their suddenly large family, Jessica and Tom have already established a successful salon, called Hanna Marchel. When Jessica meets with clients, they’re often shocked to hear the story of her three adoptions, but Jessica claims she’d do it again in a heartbeat—though probably not for a few more years.

“Being a foster parent is something special. Your heart has to be really prepared,” she said. “These little children’s hearts are breaking. Why not let yours break a little for them?”

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