The months following Victoria Anne's passing left a quiet void in the Simmons household. While Rev Run attempted to channel his pain through ministry and counseling, Justine dealt with the physical and emotional remnants of childbirth without an infant to nurse. Justine later recounted the feeling in joint interviews and in their 2008 family memoir, Take Back Your Family, explaining that her arms physically ached to hold a baby.
Adoption was not initially Rev Run's plan. He worried about Justine's emotional vulnerability, the intense scrutiny of their television platform, and the demands of raising another child while his older children were navigating early adulthood. Justine remained persistent. She felt a divine nudge telling her that another child needed a home, and that her capacity to mother did not end with Victoria.
The couple spent several months meeting with social workers and adoption attorneys. They worked through private agencies that handle domestic adoptions, undergoing background checks, home inspections, and financial audits. By mid-2007, an expectant mother in Florida chose Joseph and Justine Simmons to raise her baby girl.
