This Nurse Adopted A Teenage Mother AND Her Triplets

May 12, 2023

A nurse and a patient developed a bond after the teenager gave birth to triplets at the hospital.

Now, they're family.

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Katrina Mullen, 45, is a neonatal nurse at Community Hospital North in Indianapolis.

That's where she met Shariya Small, who is now 17. Small was in the 8th grade when she gave birth to triplets at the hospital in 2020.

The triplets spent more than five months in the NICU. Mullen helped care for them and grew close to Small during those five months. When the babies were discharged, she gave Small her phone number and encouraged her to call if she needed anything.

The two kept in touch, and Mullen eventually visited Small at her home in Kokomo. That's when the nurse realized the reality of Small's situation — she was sleeping on a couch, and her children were sleeping together in a playpen. A case worker from the Department of Social Services later called Mullen and informed her that Small and the babies were being removed from the home they were living in.

"I just kept thinking, 'I have to do this.' I knew Shariya was intelligent and resilient and she just needed a safe place to put her roots," Mullen told Today. "I knew it would be hard, but we'd figure it out."

For nearly two years, Mullen fostered Small and her three children.

Earlier this year, Mullen's adoption of Small and her children was finalized.

"I'm so proud to be Shariya's mom. She just amazes me every day. When she's frustrated with the babies, she never raises her voice. She's just blossoming into this incredible woman," Mullen told Today.

"Has it been easy? No! She pushes limits just like any other teenager. But I love her. I'm her mom — and I'm never going anywhere."

Watch the video below.