Find My Forever
It was just after the Holidays in 2024, when Jesse Jones and Taggart Speakman started to feel like they wanted more out their happy life together.
The two had met as accounting majors at Southern Utah University. In 2021, the married couple moved to Las Vegas to pursue their individual careers as CPAs. Together, they built a home, a network of friends, and took in two sphynx cats, Juniper and Elio. And yet after three years, they felt like they still had resources and love left to share.
“Ever since we started dating, we had been talking about what we wanted our future to look like — and we knew we eventually wanted kids,” says Taggart. “We felt secure in our careers and our lives. We thought: Why not now?”
“With older kids, we’re skipping the sleepless nights and going straight to the fun things of life. They can be our buddies, our companions. We want to have fun with them, to play games and hang out.”
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In September 2024, the adoption was approved. After five years in foster care, the Martinez brothers’ officially joined Jesse and Taggart as their Forever Family.
The transition hasn’t been completely seamless. Jesse and Taggart have learned that, although the brothers experienced the same separation from their biological parents, each experienced that trauma in a different way. Accordingly, the new adoptive fathers have worked to find ways to support each of their new sons.
But the process has also been a lot of fun. Fifteen-year-old Gabriel loves playing football and basketball and taking part in taekwondo, and the fathers have had a blast rooting him on from the stands. Nathaniel, 13, is also very athletic, but has gravitated toward film and acting, so Jesse and Taggart have relished taking him to the theater and watching Netflix with him. Young Isaiah is the gamer of the bunch, and Taggart tries to keep up in playing Fortnite.
It all makes for sometimes dizzying pace through a jam-packed social calendar for Jesse and Taggart. And they wouldn’t have it any other way. Because while they’ve given the children a much-needed home, sense of stability, and chance at a brighter future, as they expected, something unexpected has happened too.
“We’ve brought something into our lives that we didn’t even know was missing,” says Taggart. “We’ve watched them become more themselves.”
“We’re their parents, and they love us,” says Jesse. “Honestly, all you have to do as a parent is to be there and give them love. We show up every day. It’s the best thing ever watching them grow.”
If you have the love and resources to welcome a child or a sibling group and you are interested in a child featured in a Find My Forever profile, email dfsfindmyforever@clarkcountynv.gov.
By Monica Vanover on March 12, 2025
Sponsored by
Finding a Forever Family
Even before they fell in love with the Martinez brothers through Find My Forever, Jesse and Taggart knew that to eventually adopt, they’d have to first be approved as foster parents. They eagerly signed up for classes conducted by Raise the Future, a non-profit that partners with the Clark County Family Services to provide Foster Parent Pre-Service Licensing Training to any would-be foster family. In fact, it was the Raise the Future instructor who directed the young couple to Find My Forever.
The website features videos and profiles of children and teens in search of their Forever Families. While the goal of the Clark County Family Services is always to eventually
Las Vegas couple helps three brothers find their Forever Family — and build a future together
Jesse and Taggart came to understand that there are currently more than 3,000 children in the Clark County foster care program — and on any given day, about 100 of them awaiting adoption by a loving family. A family just like Jesse and Taggart’s.
The two went to Find My Forever, a partnership between Clark County, FOX5, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and Univision Las Vegas featuring monthly stories of children who are available for adoption. That’s where they first “met” the Martinez brothers, Gabriel (15 years old), Nathaniel (13), and Isaiah (12), through their photograph and brief biography.
“We just instantly knew,” says Jesse. “It was love at first sight.”
reunite biological families, that’s not always possible. These children come from unique situations and are seeking permanency at different points in their lives. They include infants, toddlers, elementary school children, and adolescents preparing to graduate from high school and enter adulthood. Some are still in contact with their biological parents or relatives on either side of the family that, for whatever reason, can’t be their legal guardians. The one thing they all have in common is that they have all endured the trauma of having lost their permanent home.
While many foster families want to adopt individual babies or toddlers, there is a great need for homes to welcome older children and sibling groups that desperately want to stay intact. After all, for many of them, their brothers or sisters are all that remain of the familial ties. Jesse and Taggart recognized that need — and they also saw the benefits of adopting teenagers and preteens.
“Surrogacy or adoption of newborns can be time consuming,” says Taggart. “With older kids, we’re skipping the sleepless nights and going straight to the fun things of life. They can be our buddies, our companions. We want to have fun with them, to play games and hang out.”
At first, the couple had thought they only wanted one child, or maybe two. But once the couple saw the Martinez trio’s photographs and read their descriptions on Find My Forever, both men instantly knew that they couldn’t further separate the family. And they didn’t want to.
“When we completed the foster-care training, they asked us whom we might be interested in,” says Taggart. “For us, it was all three boys. There really was no one else.”
“A superstar team” of support
Of course, adopting the children wasn’t just as simple as picking them off the website. Fortunately, Jesse and Taggart had help throughout the process from the team at Find My Forever.
First, they went through the prescreening process to determine if they were an appropriate fit for the boys. Once the match was approved, the support team laid out an individualized plan to help the couple through the entire adoption process, including connecting them with physical and behavioral healthcare providers, special educators, social workers and case managers, attorneys and legal advocates, and any pertinent government financial aid. And of course, there is always the adoption subsidies that help cover the additional cost of parenting a child.
“That’s the great thing about the state,” says Taggart. “They come with a lot of people who are there to help us and support us.”
“We worked with a superstar team,” adds Jesse. “They genuinely care about the kids and want to be sure it’s a good fit. Before we even met the boys, they talked to us about our childhoods and backgrounds to make sure we were the right match.”
The “superstar team” at Find My Forever also came with an informal network of foster parents whom Jesse and Taggart could consult over any anxiety or concern they might have had leading up to the adoption. This included the foster mother who was currently caring for the Martinez brothers. She sent photos, shared stories, facilitated Zoom calls, and eventually hosted the first meeting between the boys and their future fathers.
“When we finally got to meet them in person, it was nerve-racking,” says Jesse. “But we knew they were going to be nervous and that we had to be calm to help them stay calm.”
“They were excited, they wanted to talk to us,” says Taggart. “They wanted to show us all their stuff. They were open and excited from the beginning.”
Unexpected benefit
- Taggart Speakman
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Jesse and Taggart came to understand that there are currently more than 3,000 children in the Clark County foster care program — and on any given day, about 100 of them awaiting adoption by a loving family. A family just like Jesse and Taggart’s.
The two went to Find My Forever, a partnership between Clark County, FOX5, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and Univision Las Vegas featuring monthly stories of children who are available for adoption. That’s where they first “met” the Martinez brothers, Gabriel (15 years old), Nathaniel (13), and Isaiah (12), through their photograph and brief biography.
“We just instantly knew,” says Jesse. “It was love at first sight.”
Even before they fell in love with the Martinez brothers through Find My Forever, Jesse and Taggart knew that to eventually adopt, they’d have to first be approved as foster parents. They eagerly signed up for classes conducted by Raise the Future, a non-profit that partners with the Clark County Family Services to provide Foster Parent Pre-Service Licensing Training to any would-be foster family. In fact, it was the Raise the Future instructor who directed the young couple to Find My Forever.
The website features videos and profiles of children and teens in search of their Forever Families. While the goal of the Clark County Family Services is always to eventually reunite biological families, that’s not always possible. These children come from unique situations and are seeking permanency at different points in their lives. They include infants, toddlers, elementary school children, and adolescents preparing to graduate from high school and enter adulthood. Some are still in contact with their biological parents or relatives on either side of the family that, for whatever reason, can’t be their legal guardians. The one thing they all have in common is that they have all endured the trauma of having lost their permanent home.
While many foster families want to adopt individual babies or toddlers, there is a great need for homes to welcome older children and sibling groups that desperately want to stay intact. After all, for many of them, their brothers or sisters are all that remain of the familial ties. Jesse and Taggart recognized that need — and they also saw the benefits of adopting teenagers and preteens.
“Surrogacy or adoption of newborns can be time consuming,” says Taggart. “With older kids, we’re skipping the sleepless nights and going straight to the fun things of life. They can be our buddies, our companions. We want to have fun with them, to play games and hang out.”
At first, the couple had thought they only wanted one child, or maybe two. But once the couple saw the Martinez trio’s photographs and read their descriptions on Find My Forever, both men instantly knew that they couldn’t further separate the family. And they didn’t want to.
“When we completed the foster-care training, they asked us whom we might be interested in,” says Taggart. “For us, it was all three boys. There really was no one else.”
“With older kids, we’re skipping the sleepless nights and going straight to the fun things of life. They can be our buddies, our companions. We want to have fun with them, to play games and hang out.”
Of course, adopting the children wasn’t just as simple as picking them off the website. Fortunately, Jesse and Taggart had help throughout the process from the team at Find My Forever.
First, they went through the prescreening process to determine if they were an appropriate fit for the boys. Once the match was approved, the support team laid out an individualized plan to help the couple through the entire adoption process, including connecting them with physical and behavioral healthcare providers, special educators, social workers and case managers, attorneys and legal advocates, and any pertinent government financial aid. And of course, there is always the adoption subsidies that help cover the additional cost of parenting a child.
“That’s the great thing about the state,” says Taggart. “They come with a lot of people who are there to help us and support us.”
“We worked with a superstar team,” adds Jesse. “They genuinely care about the kids and want to be sure it’s a good fit. Before we even met the boys, they talked to us about our childhoods and backgrounds to make sure we were the right match.”
The “superstar team” at Find My Forever also came with an informal network of foster parents whom Jesse and Taggart could consult over any anxiety or concern they might have had leading up to the adoption. This included the foster mother who was currently caring for the Martinez brothers. She sent photos, shared stories, facilitated Zoom calls, and eventually hosted the first meeting between the boys and their future fathers.
“When we finally got to meet them in person, it was nerve-racking,” says Jesse. “But we knew they were going to be nervous and that we had to be calm to help them stay calm.”
“They were excited, they wanted to talk to us,” says Taggart. “They wanted to show us all their stuff. They were open and excited from the beginning.”
In September 2024, the adoption was approved. After five years in foster care, the Martinez brothers’ officially joined Jesse and Taggart as their Forever Family.
The transition hasn’t been completely seamless. Jesse and Taggart have learned that, although the brothers experienced the same separation from their biological parents, each experienced that trauma in a different way. Accordingly, the new adoptive fathers have worked to find ways to support each of their new sons.
But the process has also been a lot of fun. Fifteen-year-old Gabriel loves playing football and basketball and taking part in taekwondo, and the fathers have had a blast rooting him on from the stands. Nathaniel, 13, is also very athletic, but has gravitated toward film and acting, so Jesse and Taggart have relished taking him to the theater and watching Netflix with him. Young Isaiah is the gamer of the bunch, and Taggart tries to keep up in playing Fortnite.
It all makes for sometimes dizzying pace through a jam-packed social calendar for Jesse and Taggart. And they wouldn’t have it any other way. Because while they’ve given the children a much-needed home, sense of stability, and chance at a brighter future, as they expected, something unexpected has happened too.
“We’ve brought something into our lives that we didn’t even know was missing,” says Taggart. “We’ve watched them become more themselves.”
“We’re their parents, and they love us,” says Jesse. “Honestly, all you have to do as a parent is to be there and give them love. We show up every day. It’s the best thing ever watching them grow.”
If you have the love and resources to welcome a child or a sibling group and you are interested in a child featured in a Find My Forever profile, email dfsfindmyforever@clarkcountynv.gov.
