Upbring Foster In Texas ‘Dream Team’ Creates Forever Home for Alize ‘Zay’ Smith

Two-and-a-half-year-old Alize Smith is living a life many children can only dream of, especially those in foster care. This Fort Worth girl has walked the beaches of Hawaii, flown kites in California, picked apples in Massachusetts and attended multiple Texas Rangers ballgames. But she might not have had these wonderful experiences had her parents, Chris and Hailey Smith, not fostered and later adopted Alize, or “Zay” as they call her.  

As a pediatric nurse practitioner at a Fort Worth children’s hospital, Hailey had witnessed the effects of child abuse and neglect. In 2021, she attended a child wellbeing seminar and learned about the need for foster families in Texas.

“We didn’t have any kids at the time,” says Hailey. “We were at a place of stability and wanted to demonstrate what unconditional love looks whether it be permanent or temporary.”

Chris’s parents had fostered about a dozen children, from newborns to teenagers. “We fostered a lot while I was growing up,” says Chris. “I had a lot of experience with the system, so it was important for me to try to do the same.”

The Smiths became licensed through Upbring in January 2022 and received four-month-old Zay into their home a month later. The youngest of 13 siblings, Zay had been removed from her birth family’s home because of neglect and her mother’s substance use.

Though adopting Zay was not the original goal, the very real possibility that she might return to an unstable home environment caused Chris and Hailey to petition a court for custody. And Upbring was there to help.

“They were the best advocates and really went to bat for us to keep Zay in our home,” says Hailey of the Upbring Foster In Texas staff. “We felt like we had the ‘Dream Team.’”

In May 2023, Zay found her forever home with Chris and Hailey. The Smiths are committed to giving their kind and empathetic daughter a healthy childhood full of happy memories. They haven’t ruled out fostering again, either.

“We are grateful every day for our foster journey so far, and especially that it brought us our daughter,” reflects Hailey. “She is the best addition to our family, and we could never imagine what life would look like without her.” 

Upbring Foster In Texas works diligently to advance child wellbeing and provide nurturing homes for children like Zay. Learn more about foster-to-adoption in Texas here.