Hurricanes’ Jaccob Slavin: How Adoption Has Changed His Life

With fall just around the corner, hockey season will soon be in full swing. If you follow the NHL, you may know the Carolina Hurricanes’ Defenseman Jaccob Slavin. If you are a dedicated Hurricanes fan, you may also know the Jaccob Slavin adoption story starring his daughter, Emersyn. Slavin is open about his daughter’s adoption and how it has completely changed his family’s life.

Over the past few years, Emersyn has filled the Slavin family’s lives with love. Jaccob and his wife, Kylie, are also open about the fact that they are constantly learning about adoption – specifically transracial adoption. Slavin and Kylie are White, and their baby is Black. The couple has been busy educating themselves about the struggles of the Black community. They are committed to keeping their child connected to her culture. They are also working toward building a lifelong relationship with Emersyn’s birth mother.

Choosing Adoption

“It’s been an unbelievable journey with her. She’s amazing,” Slavin has said with pride about his adopted daughter.

In an interview with SportsNet, Slavin explained that his wife, Kylie, has wanted to adopt a child since she was ten years old. At the start of their relationship, she explained that she dreamed of adopting a child someday. He admitted that he – being a young guy looking to keep the relationship going – simply replied, “yeah, sure,” not really thinking about it too deeply. Shortly after they were married, they attended a fundraiser event for adoption. On their drive home, Kylie said she wanted to adopt a child immediately. Slavin confessed that he was not sure he was ready for adoption. He expected they would have a biological child first, but after some thought and reflection, he came to love the idea.

Slavin said that, after giving it some thought and prayer, he and Kylie decided that they wanted to give a child a loving home any way possible. Adoption was the right path for them.

Keeping it Open

Jaccob and Kylie understand the benefits of open adoption. They also know the value of frequent, honest, and age-appropriate conversations with Emersyn about her adoption.

“We wanted to be upfront with her from the very beginning. She knows she’s adopted already,” Jaccob said.

The family has been staying connected with Emersyn’s birth mother and see her in person on occasion.

“It’s something special and hopefully a relationship we can continue, when Emersyn’s old enough to fully comprehend everything, she’ll understand that she has two moms that love her to death,” Jaccob explained.

A Happy Home

Emersyn is not the only child in the Slavin household. When she was a toddler, the family brought a baby boy – Kylie and Slavin’s biological child – into their Raleigh, North Carolina home. Slavin says that the two kids are best buds.

“She was nurturing him right-as soon as he got home,” he recalled.

The Slavins are enjoying life with their little ones right now. Emersyn continues to light up their life as they navigate their open adoption.

“She enjoys coming to the rink with me and skating, and she’ll go outside and play in the mud in a princess dress,” Jaccob said. “She’s all over the place and enjoys doing just about anything.”

Navigating Racial Differences

While the Slavins are savoring life with their little ones, they are not shy about discussing matters of race.

“Right now, she’s a very adorable little Black baby. But one day she’s going to grow up and people aren’t going to see her as a cute baby anymore,” Jaccob said in an interview with The Score.

He and Kylie have spent time reading and learning about the history and ongoing injustices happening to the Black community. They admit that it has been a rude awakening. When interviewed by The Score, Jaccob brought up Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT who was killed by police in her home during a flawed drug raid. Jaccob and Kylie imagined the terrible scenario in which that could happen to their own daughter someday.

“We hate that it took having a black daughter to open our eyes to everything that’s going on. That was kind of our starting point,” Jaccob said.

Jaccob and Kylie have been using their platform to speak out against racism and calling out the injustices as much as they can. The family has experienced racism first-hand, often in the form of the White Savior complex.

“It’s not necessarily racism towards Emersyn herself but it’s the comments people make,” Jaccob said. “And they may think they’re making them with no intention to be racist, or if you asked them, they probably wouldn’t say they’re racist, but you can see their heart behind some of the things they do ask.”

As the Slavin family continues to learn about transracial adoption, they understand that there is more work to be done.

“The first step is to educate yourself and learn from black people what they’ve been experiencing and have been experiencing their whole lives,” Slavin said.

Learn More About Open Adoption

Are you thinking about adoption? Whether you are facing an unplanned pregnancy or want to adopt a child, you can get the support you need from Adoptions With Love. Call 800-722-77431 or reach out online. We can guide you through every step of the adoption process.