Thomas Rhett Reveals When He'll Tell Daughter Willa About Her Adoption
Thomas Rhett and his wife, Lauren Akins, are parents to four girls.
Thomas Rhett is opening up about his plans to talk to his daughter, Willa Gray, about her adoption. The “Slow Down Summer” singer and his wife, Lauren Akins, adopted their 6-year-old daughter from Uganda in 2017.
During a conversation with Hoda Kotb on her Making Space podcast, the country music superstar shares when he feels would be the right time to have a conversation with his daughter about her adoption.
“It’s hard, because I think when you become a parent you’re like, ‘Well, I’m a dad I have all the answers,’” he shared.
“And like adoption is one of the most beautiful things in the world and I don’t think at the beginning of it you go, ‘Oh, in like six years, I’m gonna have to start answering some really intense questions.’ It’s kinda like you go, what age is the right age? Because the world is moving so fast to have a conversation with a 6-year-old about that," he said. "Maybe I’m too old school to think that way, but I go, ‘Maybe we need to wait until she’s 10.'”
Willa, is the only one of Thomas Rhett and Akins’ children who is adopted. The pair are also parents to Ada James, 4, Lennon Love, 2, and 4-month old Lillie Carolina.
Thomas Rhett shared that Willa and her sisters have already brought up the topic. "She talks to Lauren, she's like, 'When can we get to see my friends in Uganda?' And then Ada James will be like, 'When can I go see our friends in Uganda?' And Willa Gray will be like, 'Well, they're not your friends, they're my friends.'"
The "Look What God Gave Her" singer said that he and his wife are trying to find the right way to navigate the subject.
“I love the innocence that they have,” he said. “They haven’t been tainted by the world. They haven’t been jaded by the world. They don’t see things like adults see things. So, in your, like, parent brain, you’re like, ‘How do I keep this innocence alive as long as I possibly can?’”
He continued, “We try to be as honest as we can without the confusion. I guess that’s the thing. It’s freaking hard.”
Thomas Rhett shared that it’s always been his wife’s dream to have five children. Although they are almost there, the "Things Dads Do" singer shared that they are going to wait a while.
"We have a lot of kids right now, and you wanna talk about making space,'" he shared. "We’re having a hard time trying to figure out how we make one-on-one time for all our kids, so I told Lauren, 'Let’s have five but let’s take a four-year deep breath.'"
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