Making a family: The holidays are a special time for single mom TiAnna Greene and her adopted son Jaxson

TiAnna Greene pushes her adopted son, Jaxson, 21 months, on a swing as they play at Jervey Gantt Park in Ocala, Fla. on Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2021.

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Posted November 26, 2021 | By Marian Rizzo

Just ahead of this year’s Thanksgiving Day, single mom TiAnna Greene said she was expecting the holiday to be extra special. Greene recently adopted Jaxson, a child who came into her home two years ago and literally changed her life.

For a long time, Greene had given up on ever having a child of her own. After being diagnosed with endometriosis, she had a hysterectomy at the age of 23.

“It was very devastating,” Greene admitted. “I’ve always been happy about others when they announced they were going to have babies. I celebrated with family and friends each time. I always wanted to have kids of my own, but it just wasn’t in the cards for me.”

Greene said she and her former husband talked about adopting, but they never followed through. After they divorced, Greene, a juvenile probation officer supervisor with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, found fulfillment by helping friends and family members raise their three daughters.

“I hadn’t even thought about foster care or adoption anymore,” Greene said. “I was single and getting acclimated to my life. I had been taking care of other people’s kids for so long, I was adjusting to my life of just being me.”

Then, out of the blue, Greene got a call from Ivan White, a local foster parent, who asked her if she’d like to adopt his newborn nephew. White had gotten to know Greene when she was president of the Marion County NAACP and he was treasurer. He said Greene immediately came to mind when he learned his niece was giving birth to another child. White and his wife, Dawn Marie, were already caring for several children, including the baby’s older sister and brother.

Green took the baby into her home when he was three days old and named him Jaxson.

“I think it was really a God thing,” White said. “It’s been over a year now, and when Jaxson does come over, his sister and brother know him very well. We’ve got his pictures on the wall, and his name is on our blended family board. That was what was important to me, to think we were able to blend the family and make sure these kids grow up happy, nurtured and loved.”

Greene spent two years fulfilling the required home inspections and background check, all the necessary steps to becoming Jaxson’s legal mother. On July 23 this year, the adoption was finalized through a ZOOM meeting with a judge, a commonly used method during COVID-19 restrictions.

“It’s a tough process, I would not deny that,” Greene said. “You think that you would not be able to extend your love and home to someone who does not share your DNA. But at the end of it, the reward is so much greater.”

Greene’s mother, Audrey Clark, watched the finalization on a computer at home along with Greene’s sister, Kathy Pinckney. Now 21 months old, Jaxson is Clark’s first grandchild.

“I was crying because it was something I wanted for her so bad,” Clark said. “Once the judge called her ‘Mom,’ my heart just melted. I always prayed for her to have her own.”

A lot of firsts began that day, said Greene.

“This was our first Thanksgiving together as a family,” Greene said in her pre-holiday interview.

“I lost a brother and sister about 10 or 12 years ago through illnesses, so our Thanksgiving has not been the same. We have not celebrated the holidays like we did when they were alive, so now with Jaxson we are building new traditions with him to celebrate the holidays. Jaxson will get to meet some of my aunts that he hasn’t met yet,” she added.

“I never knew that there was any more joy than what I’d already experienced being in a job that I love. I was doing what I could do for the community and then—Boom!—Jaxson came into my life. To be honest I’m still kind of in disbelief,” she shared “After all the praying and pining, I have my son. He’s changed our lives. It was the best decision I ever made for my life.”