LEXINGTON S.C. (WIS) – Over the last eight years, Jared and Stacey Franklin have started their family by adopting their 8-year-old son, Raybon, and 4-year-old son, Eli. The parents have used their passion for sports in pushing their kids to be great people and athletes
“We’re going to put all of our effort in whatever we do,” Jared Franklin said.
Jared and Stacey were a few years apart from each other when they both attended and graduated from Lexington High School. Stacey would pursue her Juris doctorate from the Charleston School of Law, while Jared would begin his still ongoing career at UPS.
The two would finally meet in 2005 after connecting through mutual friends.
“We went on a date to Villa Tronco and we’ve been together ever since,” Jared said.
“He was into cars and I was into motorcycles and we kind of crossed paths in that way,” Stacey added.
After Jared and Stacey got married in 2007, they wanted to start their own family.
The Franklins eventually decided they wanted to adopt their first child and started filing their paperwork in 2015. The following year, Jared and Stacey would be contacted by a mother that had chosen them to be the parents.
Jared recalls getting off his shift that night, and driving more than three hours to meet his newborn son, Raybon.
“(I drove) almost 3 hours, he was born at 11:13 that night and it was a night… that change our lives forever.”
In 2019, the Franklins decided they wanted to adopt again. This put them in the position to adopt Eli, who plans for adoption fell through last-minute.
Despite being born two months early, the Franklins would eventually return home with Raybon’s baby brother.
“He was in the NICU, and he stayed there the rest of the week, (then) we went down on a Saturday morning, and took him home,” Jared said. “He was very small; he was about 4 pounds, and now he’s a big boy.”
Stacey and Jared’s experiences as athletes have piqued the interest of their kids.
Jared has raced in a handful of marathons, and is a former Pan Am bronze medal winner in Karate.
Stacey, formerly a figure skater, converted from ice skating to roller derby roughly 17 years ago. She’s also been actively involved in the sport locally since then founding the Columbia junior rollers for kids interested in the sport in 2011.
Stacey currently competes on the All Star QuadSquad.
“I tried out and I was able to skate right away, and was able to start playing roller derby right away,” Stacey said, “Here I am 17 years later, and I’m still playing.”
That passion for sports is what Jaren and Stacey feel their kids have taken from them on their own.
In 2024, Eli placed 4th on the wrestling mat at the SC Youth Wrestling Rookie State Championships in the U6 41-pound division.
Stemming from Jared’s passion for soccer in high school, Raybon enjoys playing soccer with the Lexington Soccer Academy and is the younger kid in the Coerver Kid Soccer Program.
Jared says their passion for sports has rubbed off on their kids as they aim to put their best foot forward in what they do on or off the field.
“I don’t care what sports either of them does,” Jared said, “I told them if we do something, we’re going to really do it.”
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