He and his wife, Suzanne, already had three children on the threshhold of adulthood. And back then, he didn’t fully understand how someone could love an adopted child as their own. 

That changed soon after his wife brought home a 4-week-old baby boy, he told a gathering of foster and adoptive families and child advocates Monday. 

Pillen said the child had been born to a troubled 15-year-old his wife was mentoring through a teen mothers program. But the boy couldn’t stay with his mother, and Suzanne Pillen didn’t want him to end up in the child welfare system.

The Pillens started taking care of the boy on a temporary basis only. But the then-livestock operator and businessman had a change of heart one day, when his wife left him in charge of the tiny infant and the boy, Izic, locked eyes with him. 

“It was an extraordinary, extraordinary day that the gift of grace took place,” Pillen said, choking up. “Being able to have a son that’s now 19 (was) the greatest gift of grace.”

The governor told his story at an event celebrating foster and adoptive parents and marking November as adoption month.

The Pillens raised Izic as their own since he was an infant. They made the adoption official in August, after Izic reached the age of majority and was able to agree to the relationship on his own. 

The governor urged other Nebraska families to consider becoming adoptive or foster parents, as well. He said 331 children have been adopted out of the state’s child welfare system through the first 10 months of this year. But some 200 others are still waiting for an adoptive family. 

“I encourage every Nebraskan to answer your heart, answer the promptings of the Holy Spirit,” Pillen said.

He was joined by other adoptive families, including Craig and Miranda Coleman, the adoptive parents of Husker wide receiver Malachi Coleman, and Shannon Bingham, Mrs. Midwest International 2024, and her adopted son, Seth Stickman.

Laura Opfer, an adoptive parent to three daughters, is deputy director of children and family services within the Department of Health and Human Services. She said that, along with getting children adopted, the state child welfare system has successfully reunited 855 children with their parents so far this year and found permanency for 142 through guardianship. 

Opfer celebrated the important role that foster parents, including relatives and kinship caregivers, have on children in need. Kinship caregivers are people known to a child, such as a family friend or teacher. 

“We have 1,027 relative and kinship caregivers in Nebraska, who support their grandchildren, nieces, and nephews, students and neighbors  when they need support the most,” she said. “In addition, we have 2,321 foster families who exemplify what it means to have perseverance, resilience and hope.”

More foster families are needed, especially those willing to take sibling groups, children with complex medical needs and teenagers.

The Colemans said they fostered Malachi Coleman and his younger sister, Neaveh, before adopting the two. Now they lead the Fly Like Chi Foundation that their son started to help pay for sports, arts and other extracurricular activities for foster children. 

Miranda Coleman urged others to consider fostering or adopting, saying that it had changed their lives. 

“Our kids have made us better humans, more compassionate neighbors, more confident advocates, and taught us how to live looking forward,” she said. “They have opened our world view, and we are forever grateful we are a family.”

Bingham, who has focused past pageant platforms on adoption, adopted her son as an infant through the Nebraska Children’s Home Society. Now 16, he said his birth mother knew he would have more opportunities through adoption. 

“I have been shown boundless love by my adoptive parents,” he said. “I have many people I can count on who are willing to provide for me and care for me when needed. Without adoption, I wouldn’t have these people around me in such great numbers.”