Ben and LaCol Kjar Saw the Hand of God in Every Adoption

Ten years of trying. Four rounds of IVF. Two miscarriages. Two adoption matches that fell apart. Then one phone call changed everything. In this episode of Latter-day Saints Adoptions, host Donna Pope talks with Ben and LaCol Kjar, whose story reached theater screens in the movie Standout and whose baby reveal videos have been viewed millions of times. Together they revisit the parts of their adoption story that the movie and the videos never showed.

A Son and a Name

After years of heartache, the Kjars got a call about a baby boy who had already been born. They boarded a flight on faith, telling no one, not even their parents. Within minutes of meeting the birth mother, she invited them to meet their son. That night, Ben woke at three in the morning with a name pressing on his mind. At the hospital the next day, the birth mother shared the name she had written down on her own, a name meaning protective warrior. It was the same name. Liam.

A Daughter Five Days Later

While the paperwork for Liam was being signed, Donna took a call in the hallway. Another birth mother in a neighboring town was due in two days. What followed was a season of doubt, a desperate prayer offered in a hospital bathroom, and counsel that both Ben and LaCol describe as one of the most sacred moments of their lives. A year later, a single text message brought their third child, Liam's biological brother, and kept the siblings together.

This episode is a study in tender mercies, the small miracles that stack up until the hand of God becomes impossible to miss. The Kjars speak with love and reverence about their birth mothers, and Donna shares parts of the story the family never knew, including what was happening on the other side of each phone call.

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