Thomas Rhett and Lauren Akins’ love story is one for the books. The couple met as kindergartners, but it took them about 15 years to realize that they were life partners — and they haven’t turned back since.
The country superstar and the Live in Love author started dating in 2011 after reconnecting at a party for her sister. They were engaged within six months and married the following October.
“When I saw them stare at each other the entire 20 minutes they were saying their vows, it’s like these two people are meant to be together. They are beyond in love,” the groom’s father, Rhett Akins, told Country Weekly at the time. “Everybody there that had doubted or wondered if they were too young, all the doubts are gone now.”
After honeymooning in Hawaii, Rhett and Akins tried to start a family. However, the pair struggled to conceive, so they began looking into other ways to have children. Akins visited Uganda in 2016 and quickly developed a bond with a baby girl named Willa Gray. She and Rhett returned to the African country a dozen times over the 12 months that followed before formally adopting the then-18-month-old.
In the middle of the process, the Grammy nominee and his wife found out that she was pregnant. Their daughter Ada James was born in August 2017, only three months after Willa came home to the U.S.
“There is nothing more fun than being around my children,” Rhett gushed to ABC News Radio in June 2019. “I can only imagine it gets more fun the more that you have.”
And with that said, they became a family of five in February 2020 when Akins gave birth to another daughter, Lennon Love. They expanded their brood yet again in November 2021 when they welcomed daughter Lillie Carolina.
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Scroll down to see a timeline of Rhett and Akins’ relationship!
