Shawn Johnson East and Husband Consider Adoption: ‘Would Love to Do That’
By Movieguide® Contributor
Shawn Johnson East just welcomed her third child in December, and while she doesn’t feel ready for more pregnancies, she and her husband, Andrew East, revealed they might adopt if they choose to grow their family.
“I would love to adopt if we want to continue growing our family,” Johnson East told PEOPLE. “I do feel like we are a family that would love to do that. I don’t know if our family’s done growing, but I am pretty sure I’m done having kids.”
Movieguide® reported on their family’s latest addition in December:
Johnson East and husband Andrew welcomed their third child and second son on Dec. 12. They also share Drew, 4, and Jett, 2.
“Our baby boy has finally arrived, and we couldn’t be more thrilled,” the couple said in a statement to PEOPLE. “Both baby and mom are doing great, and we are counting our blessings!”
“Recovery is always a process and I’ve learned to be really patient with my body,” East shared. “Not trying to rush anything and really just going to soak it all in. The third time around feels so surreal because even though we’ve done this twice before, there’s still so much nervousness and excitement around the days leading up to the birth and then so much magic once you get to hold your sweet baby in your arms for the first time.”
While pregnant with Barrett, Johnson East told TODAY that she informed her husband she doesn’t want to physically have more children, but they “could talk” about adoption.
But the parents aren’t yet accustomed to life with three little ones. And they face some fun hurdles every now and then.
In Johnson East’s pregnancy, Andrew told Woman’s Day that he looked forward to the “humbling experiences” their third child would bring.
“Three kids is a lot, but it is the greatest blessing ever. I mean, our little guy’s amazing,” Johnson East said. “Our kids are in love with him. They couldn’t be better big siblings. It’s just been trying to figure out how to do three logistically [that] has been interesting, but a fun challenge.”
“They’re doing better than I could have ever expected,” she said of her oldest kids. “I understand that’s a huge transition and they’re getting less mommy time and daddy time. It is a big transition, but they are so protective and in love with their little brother, which is really, really special.”
Johnson East and her husband realize that sometimes the kids need individual attention, so they try to take turns to balance it out.
“We’re just trying to honor their wishes in that department. If it looks like Drew’s needing more mommy time, Andrew can take the other two and I’m going to take Drew for a couple of hours,” Johnson East said. “We really try to cater to those attention needs, given a big transition in the family.”
“It’s more so now that we have three kids, someone kind of always has to be doing something,” she explained. “I think that’s probably the hardest transition with three for parenting with two parents is with two, there was still this ability to take two and someone can go have their time and then switch.”
The family currently looks forward to attending the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
“It’s something that we’ve had on our bucket list and now that we have all of our babies with us, we’re really excited to do it,” Johnson East told PEOPLE.
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