A family in Detroit is counting their blessings after the birth of a new addition. On Thanksgiving night, 16-year-old Peyton Peoples told her family she found a baby on the porch. Of course, the family was shocked to hear such a thing happened, especially because it came out of nowhere. But they were prepared to do whatever they needed to ensure the baby’s safety, even if that meant taking it in themselves. They decided, however, that maybe they needed to get the authorities involved. It was then that they made an even more shocking discovery: The girl hadn’t found the baby on the porch at all.
On the evening of November 27, 2025, Peyton was home alone, her family told WXYZ. She went into labor and gave birth to a baby, using videos she found online to help her cut the umbilical cord. Nobody knew she was pregnant, including Peyton.
When her relatives returned home, she told them she had found a newborn on the porch.
“We just kept praising saying good things about the momma (like) we thank you for bringing the baby here, not knowing that it was our baby all along,” said her grandmother, Kimberly Peoples-Adams.
According to the grandmother, her granddaughter kept the birth a secret because she was afraid of being a disappointment. “She just felt that she was letting down those who had put so much on her,” Peoples-Adams explained to the outlet. The older woman added that Peyton was on the honor roll and involved in robotics at school.
Naturally, the teen “just thought her life was over,” and instead of telling the truth, she made up the story to protect herself and her family.
“You can’t imagine what would go through a teenager’s mind. She’s still 16, she’s still nervous, she’s still trying to learn how to deal with the world. She just felt that she’s being judged, and she is being judged,” the grandmother said, per WXYZ.
Peyton and her mom, Kira, spoke with Fox 2 about the incident. They both made it clear that the baby was never on the porch, even for a second.
“I was laying in bed and my water broke, so I went into the bathroom and had Paxton,” the teen shared. “I cleaned him off and then looked up on TikTok how to cut my umbilical cord; I cut the cord and then wiped him off again.”
According to Kira, she posted about the baby on Facebook. At the same time, they called 911. When Detroit police arrived, they found the story a little suspicious, so they took Peyton to Detroit’s Children’s Hospital to rule out the possibility of her being the baby’s mother. It was there that the teen broke down and told the truth.
“It was already hard for her to raise us,” Peyton said of her mother, per Fox 2. “And that just added another burden on her back, and I didn’t want to do that.”
Kira, however, says she will do everything in her power to support her daughter and grandson. “We’re going to figure it out. I’m going to keep going to work,” she shared. “She’s going back to school. I’m going to work midnights, and she’s going to go to school during the day, and we’ll switch off.”
In the meantime, the family has started a GoFundMe account to help with the costs of the unexpected arrival of Paxton. “We are now both single moms trying to navigate a very unexpected and emotional time,” the fundraiser reads.
