In 2016, Taneeka Ingram, a home health nurse in Texas, was hired to care for a 12-month-old baby boy who had been born prematurely at 26 weeks and had resulting health issues. At the time, the baby, Jakobe, was living with his parents and siblings. Ingram, who says she felt an immediate “connection” to Jakobe, had no idea what the future had in store for her.

As of last Thursday, Ingram is Jakobe’s new mom. As the Austin American-Statesman states, Ingram and her husband, Terrence Roberson, were among the 23 families taking part in the annual Austin Adoption Day, which placed 39 children in new homes. “It’s like our baby found us,” Ingram tells Yahoo Lifestyle. Jakobe, now 4 1/2 years old, has been a blessing for Ingram and her husband. “I would have never thought that when I took care of Jakobe that I was taking care of our future child,” she says.

When Ingram first met her now son, he had spent the first nine months of his life in the hospital and had special needs including autism, continuous oxygen via nasal cannula as well as a gastronomy button that fed him through his the stomach. He was also unable to take fluids or medication orally. She says she couldn’t help falling in love with him “and they bonded over a shared love of cartoons.

The pair, however, were just together for just a few short weeks. Although Ingram would continually drive to his home in Killeen, a city about 70 miles from Austin, his parents often refused to open the door. “I would knock on the door and you could hear the TV on and the kids playing, but no one would answer the door,” she says. “This happened on a few occasions.”

Ingram eventually moved on to other patients and focused on a new goal: starting a family with Roberson, whom she married in 2018. That, however, proved to be more challenging than they’d anticipated.

Ingram and Robeson had struggled for many years to conceive, yet after looking into IVF, they got a call that they never expected and that changed their lives forever. On Oct. 19, 2018, Ingram was contacted “out of the blue” by Anna Parris, an adoption recruiter for Wendy’s Wonderful Kids. Parris had seen the nurse’s name in the file for Jakobe, who had been removed from his parents’ home and placed into foster care.

“She asked me if I remembered Jakobe and I said ‘Yes, I used to care for him,” she recalls. “She went on to tell me that she was looking for a forever home for Jakobe and would I be interested. It was a yes for me, but I told her I had to go home in talk to my husband about it.”

For Roberson, there was also no doubt. The couple had already discussed adoption and they immediately decided to end IVF treatment. Although the process was lengthy, Ingram and Roberson fostered Jakobe for eight months before last week’s official adoption ceremony in an Austin courtroom, which made them his parents. The bond was immediate. “Jakobe loves to be outside to play and run around,” she says. “He's a water baby — he loves to try and float on his back in the swimming pool. He dislikes shallow water because he likes to float on his back ... As a family we like to cuddle on the couch watching cartoons.”

She tells Yahoo Lifestyle that while the experience may present some challenges, it is a “blessing.” for her. “People don't understand how blessed their life is until you are able to witness a parent with a child with special needs,” Ingram says. “It may seem like it's a lot, but just think of it as giving that little one just a little bit of extra love to care for them. It is truly a blessing to be able to care for a child with special needs and witnessing the progress that Jakobe has made just warms my heart. They say that it takes a village to raise a child, but in our case, Jakobe is like a magnet that has everyone gravitating to him to shower him with love that he needs and deserves, and it's all genuine love that he has received.”

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Now, Ingram and Roberson are considering expanding their family.“I would love to adopt and foster again,” she says. “My husband wants us to give Jakobe time to enjoy his home, his parents and all of his new family without sharing, because he deserves it.”