By Rachel Paula Abrahamson—
Today
Taylor and Drew Deras are certain that God was the architect of their incredible story.
“There is no other option,” says Taylor, a 31-year-old nurse.
It all started in 2017 when Taylor and Drew, both RNs, began working the night shift in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Methodist Women's Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska.
During late-night breaks in the cafeteria, Taylor and Drew bonded, and what started as a friendship blossomed into a romance.
Now the couple, who married in 2020, have created their own family
after adopting a girl who came into their lives as a patient.
When Ella was admitted to the NICU in May 2021, she was only 23 weeks old and weighed one pound, two ounces.
A normal pregnancy is between 39 and 40 weeks.
Nurse Taylor Deras was assigned to care for Ella in 2020.Courtesy Methodist Health System
“She was very, very sick,” Taylor recalled, noting that Ella was immediately intubated and required multiple blood transfusions.
“There were good days and there were days when I would leave work and get in the car with Drew and say, 'I'm never going to see her again.
She's going to pass away tonight,'” Taylor recounted.
In the summer of 2021, Ella was gaining strength and Taylor began to worry about where she would go when she was discharged.
Taylor recalled that
Ella's biological mother no longer visited her.
“I was looking for a place to live and jumping from job to job,” Taylor said.
To fill the void, the woman, who had become “very attached” to Ella, made the girl a priority.
“I read to her and hugged her for hours.
“It was very important to me that she feel loved,” Taylor said.
Drew, like Taylor, also
felt a special connection to Ella.
“In my free time I would go to see her and give her a bottle, and I would talk to her a lot,” he stated.
There are only two nurses in the NICU and Drew wanted Ella to hear “another kind of voice.”
In December 2021, when the courts declared Ella a ward of the state, the nurses contacted her caseworker to discuss the possibility of adopting her.
Taylor and Drew Deras, with their adopted daughter Ella.Courtesy Methodist Health System
Taylor and Drew had not only fallen deeply in love with Ella, but they were terrified of what would happen to a medically fragile girl in the foster care system.
She has a tracheostomy, a surgically created hole in the windpipe as an alternative airway for breathing.
She also eats through a tube.
“When Ella's birth mother found out we were interested in adopting her, she told us, 'I want Ella to come with you,'” Taylor said.
She “she trusted us.”
Shortly after, the Deras were approved as Ella's foster parents, and in April 2022, they took her into their home.
That's when Ella began to “interact better with adults” and “handle bottles better,” according to Drew.
That same year, the girl's biological mother determined that it was best for Ella to remain with them.
“She looked at us and said, 'You are the best for her.
She knows them as her mom and her dad and I can't take care of all this medical stuff that she needs now and maybe she will always need,'” Taylor noted.
“Then she said,
'I'm willing to give you my rights.'”
“It was very mature and selfless of him,” Taylor continued.
“I wanted to give him the best life possible.”
Ella's adoption was finalized on November 18, 2023. More than 40 family members and hospital staff witnessed the emotional moment.
“The room was filled with emotion and happiness,” Taylor said.
She and Drew were also relieved.
“It had been two and a half years without knowing where Ella would go or if she would be safe,” Taylor recalled.
They could finally breathe. She was officially his daughter.
“Throughout the entire process we had the same judge, who watched Ella go from being a sick girl to one who was walking,” Taylor explained.
“She made a comment to my parents and Drew's parents about how proud they should be of what we had accomplished.”
Taylor Deras describes Ella as a "vibrant" child. Courtesy Methodist Health System
She brought some comic relief to such an emotional day.
At the end, the judge announced, “Starting today, you will be Ella Marie Deras,” and Ella said, “Yes!”
“He was very nice.
It was almost like she was saying to everyone around her, 'You can relax now,'” Drew recalled.
The Deras decided to keep the name that Ella's biological mother had chosen for her, as a tribute to her selflessness.
Today, Ella is a vibrant two-year-old who never shies away from challenges.
Drew mentioned that doctors
hope to have the tracheostomy removed in the coming months.
“She is very sweet, intelligent and determined,” Taylor said.
“She could easily say, 'I don't want to breathe on my own, I don't want to eat on my own,' but she wants to do it.
She wants to go to all her therapy appointments, and Drew and I are so proud of her.”