Angel 16, Ashley 14, Valerie 13, Anthony 12, Alondra 10, Mikey 9 and Zelin 6.

These are the names and ages of the kids my friend, Yesi Ortiz, has adopted. And she's not even 30. And no, she doesn't have an Angelina Jolie complex.

Aside from being one of Los Angeles most popular radio personalities on KPWR 105.9fm, Yesi, is also the stepmother to her seven nieces and nephews. 

"How did this happen?" you ask.

It's a family tale many can share. 

"My sister wasn't going to win the mother of the year award." she told me recently when I interviewed her on my radio program.

And with her sister's husband in and out of jail, drugs, alcohol and neglect, it all added up to social services removing the kids from the home and placing them all in separate foster care.  

All the while, Yesi was living in Tijuana, Mexico, struggling in a career in radio broadcasting. With a sketchy job that only sometimes paid her, there were times, she tells me, when she had no money for food and could barely pay her $300 monthly rent. 

"I was beyond broke. And I was a single female, getting off work at midnight...in T.J." she stressed.

When her nieces and nephews were taken away, she was told by social services she could not see them because it would make the separation once they were adopted, "easier." 

Yesi, along with her mother sold the small family home, put some money together, hired a lawyer and decided to fight for custody of the children. Her lawyer warned that a single woman in her mid-20s had little chance of winning custody of six children (Zelin not included) against the Department of Social Services. 

"I remember thinking," she tells me, "what would life be like if I wasn't afraid? This was my family, I had to get them back."

There are many moments in my own personal life when I've wondered how I would make it through the day, how I would find my next opportunity, how I would pay for my next semester of school or rent, but I've never had to worry or wonder what it would be like to loose a member of my family.

For Yesi, it wasn't an easy time in her life. As mentioned, she was working in Tijuana, she wasn't receiving a regular paycheck, she was struggling financially and was denied access to her own family members. 

The bureaucratic red tape and lack of human association from social workers is something Yesi experienced first hand. 

"The social worker looked at me like I was crazy for wanting to get custody of my nieces and nephews." Yesi recalled. 

"I looked at her like SHE was crazy! Off course I wanted them!" 

As luck would have it, Yesi landed a job on a radio morning show in San Diego and finally had the resources and money she needed to fully provide for the children. 

After a two year battle, thousands of dollars later, facing six lawyers for each child and lawyers representing the department of social services, an Orange County judge granted Yesi full custody of her nieces and nephews. 

The judge stated that not even the most responsible of people were ever as prepared to become parents as Yesi had demonstrated.  

As Yesi told me her story, she stopped for a moment to gather her thoughts. Her voice was soft and trembling and with tears in her eyes she said, "that was the moment my life started," she said. 

Yesi, finally had her family back.