I took in the nine daughters that my first love left behind, believing I was giving them a future. I never expected they were the ones holding onto a past that would change everything I thought I knew.My name is Daryl, and here’s my story.Since high school, I’d only ever loved one woman, Charlotte. But we were never able to be together.Years later, she died at age 35, leaving behind her nine daughters, who were half-sisters, with no willing parents. Charlotte had them over the years, with four different men. All four fathers were unable to take them in. Two had died, one was in prison, and the other had left the country.But the truth was, none of the fathers actually wanted to be parents.

When I heard what happened to Charlotte and her kids, through a former high school friend who helped me keep tabs on her life, I couldn’t just walk away. I’d already had the pleasure of meeting Charlotte’s childrenI immediately discovered where the children had been taken and arrived unannounced.I’ll never forget the look on the social worker’s face when I told her I wasn’t leaving without all nine girls.The adoption process took time.But the social worker didn’t want the girls stuck in the system or separated, so she worked behind the scenes to fast-track the process. In the meantime, since no one else wanted them, all the girls lived with me under a trial period.