JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – David and Jennifer Ditges have what some would call a perfect love story.
They can complete each other's sentences. They smile at each other with admiration. It's obvious they love each other.
"We met on the mission field in South Africa," Jennifer Ditges said.
They returned to Florida and began a life together. After getting married, the Ditgeses were ready to start a family.
"I want kids," Jennifer recalled saying to David.
She laughed as she repeated the memory, but the journey to have children was anything but funny for the couple.
"We thought it would be easy," Jennifer said.
They celebrated their first pregnancy, only to lose the child to a miscarriage.
Their devastation grew.
"All and all we have lost 14 children," Jennifer said.
Fourteen moments of celebration for a new baby were cut down by a miscarriage. After consoling each other through a dark time of disappointment, they decided to become foster parents.
"Let's give love to someone who isn't getting love at home," Jennifer recalled of their mindset when they headed down that road.
The Digteses became foster parents through Jewish Family and Community Services.
Their first foster children were twin girls. They fell in love with the 18-month-old girls instantly.
"There's two of them," David said, laughing. "I thought we would start with one baby."
The girls are fraternal twins. They were a part of the adoption system because their mother and father were addicted to drugs. The baby girls, just beginning their lives, were being pulled away from their biological mother.
It was a cold, harsh reality of the opioid epidemic.
According to the Florida Department of Children and Families, the number of children being removed from their parents due to drug abuse has consistently climbed from 2012 to 2017.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates 92,000 children were removed from their home in 2016 due to drug abuse. That makes up 34 percent of all removals in the country.
In Florida, the number of children removed from their homes due to parents' drug abuse has increased every year.
MORE: News4Jax covers Opioid Nation: An American Epidemic
Child removals for drug abuse Source: Department of Children and Families |
According to DCF data, the number of children removed has steadily climbed each year:
- 5,695 in 2012-13
- 6,056 in 2013-14
- 6,849 in 2014-15
- 7,530 in 2015-16
- 7,749 in 2016-17
In Northeast Florida the removal rate spiked in 2014 and 2015 and then went down slightly last year:
- 801 in 2012-13
- 868 in 2013-14
- 1,009 in 2014-15
- 1,413 in 2015-16
- 1,258 in 2016-17
The Ditgeses were overwhelmed and stunned by the number of children placed in foster care because of drug addiction.
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"At first you don't understand it. You would hope they could stop something like that for the sake of keeping (their) kids, but that addiction is just too much sometimes," David said.
Though the Ditgeses are happy to be foster parents, they also hope the biological parents can overcome addiction.
The Ditgeses officially became parents on their sixth wedding anniversary: Feb. 23, 2017.
It was unplanned, but to them, it was a sign, or a confirmation, that their adoption was meant to be.
The Ditgeses are in the process of adopting two more children. Their forever family could soon have four children. As their dream of having a family comes true, they also dream for a peaceful life for their children.
"[I dream] that they would just feel loved," Jennifer said.
The Ditgeses' adoption process was completed through Jewish Family and Community Services. Anyone interested in pursuing adoption or becoming a foster parent can contact the agency at 904-448-1933 or go to jfcsjax.org for more information.