“She breathed new life into our family,” Sonja Bennett tells PEOPLE about her adopted daughter

NEED TO KNOW

• Sonja and Ron Bennett were in their early 50s when they received an unexpected call from child services
• Just as they were about to become empty nesters, the parents of five had to make a “life-altering” decision to adopt a newborn baby 
• Four years later, the couple tells PEOPLE it felt “right for all of us”

After 17 years of raising five children in a blended family, Sonja and Ron Bennett finally reached a milestone they hadn’t experienced in decades — an empty home.

At 52 and 54, they were just stepping into a new chapter, one defined by quieter mornings and long-awaited time together. But that transition lasted only about an hour before an unexpected call from child services forced them to make a life-altering decision.

“When you get a call like that and are asked to take in a baby, you don’t overthink it,” Ron tells PEOPLE exclusively. “With faith in God, you do what’s right for the child. And looking back, it ended up being what was right for all of us.”

In mid-August 2021, a relative dealing with drug addiction had secretly given birth to a baby girl named Laken. Immediately after delivery, she fled the hospital, but not without leaving a note asking that Sonja be contacted.

Just days later — after a home inspection, drug testing, background checks and other precautions to get temporary custody paperwork— Laken was in Sonja and Ron’s care.

What followed, however, was a situation as urgent as it was heartbreaking. At the time, Laken had been born with seven different drugs in her system and spent the first month of her life in the neonatal intensive care unit under withdrawal.

Ron tells PEOPLE that either he or Sonja "stayed with her around the clock every day, all 24 hours."

The process moved quickly, but the emotional weight of the decision was immense. Hannah Whitson, the couple’s oldest daughter, remembers how seriously her parents approached the decision.

“They spent the rest of the drive home talking, crying and praying,” she recalls of that first day, noting that her parents would not step into the role unless adoption was certain. “They knew that if they were going to say yes, it would be forever."

One month after Laken was born, Sonja and Ron were "finally able to bring her home." The decision was grounded in a philosophy they had lived by for years.

“They told us, ‘To whom much is given, much is expected,’” Hannah shares. “They believe the blessings they’ve had in life come from giving back whenever they can.”

Taking in Laken, even at a stage when most parents are stepping back, felt like a natural extension of who they were. Still, the news rippled through the family in complicated ways. For Hannah, now 28, the shift was deeply personal.

“The moment I received the phone call, I was in complete shock,” she admits. “Almost immediately, I felt upset and disappointed.”

Hannah had imagined a different season ahead, one where her parents would finally have time to focus on themselves and on the adult relationships they were building with their children.

“I realized I was grieving something that had not even fully happened yet,” she explains. “I felt an unexpected sense of loss over a future I had imagined so clearly.”

Alongside that sense of loss was empathy for Laken and uncertainty about how everything would change.

“I also mourned the family dynamic we had always shared,” Hannah adds. “My family is extremely close, and everything felt perfectly balanced. I was afraid of losing that balance and changing something that had always felt safe and whole.”

Meanwhile, Sonja and Ron were navigating their own transformation. Becoming parents again later in life reshaped their priorities and perspective.

“Starting over as a parent later in life has been different than I ever imagined,” Sonja tells PEOPLE. “Becoming a mom again when I’m old enough to be her grandparent has changed who I am. My life feels like it has meaning again and she has given me a renewed purpose.”

The routines they once thought they had left behind — bedtime stories, bath time, even Disney movies — have become sources of joy rather than obligation. “She didn’t fill a void I feared. She breathed new life into our family,” the now 55-year-old adds.

According to Ron, the emotional connection was immediate and profound. “I can’t imagine my life without her,” he admits. “I never knew I could love a child that wasn’t biologically mine the way I do, but I love her as much as any dad could.”

Four years after her adoption in January 2022, the weight of Laken’s early circumstances still lingers. “Even now, I can’t tell her story without getting emotional, just thinking about what her life could have been,” Ron, now 58, shares.

Laken's biological father, who also struggled with addiction, died of an overdose within six months of her birth, and her biological mother is now incarcerated.

Over time, Hannah’s perspective began to shift as well. What once felt like loss gradually transformed into something deeper.

“I would describe our bond as one that transcends generational trauma and one that will always feel like home to me,” she says, adding that she now carves out time to be present in Laken’s life.

“The best part is getting to sleep beside her,” Hannah tells PEOPLE. “I often give myself extra time just to lie there and hold her, thinking about what her life could have been like and what mine would be without this love. I cry often in those moments. [Laken] means everything to me and to our family.”

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