Thomas Rett Akins kept busy during the COVID-19 pandemic, writing and recording new music, and fans got to hear what he’s been up to. The country crooner not only announced the release of a double album with the first half ‘Country Again, Side A,’ due out on April 30, he also released two tracks, ‘Want It Again’ and ‘Growing Up.’

This is Akins’s fifth studio album and features 11 songs with deeply confessional lyrics reflecting on his way of life and state of mind. The singer opened up to ET Online that his new album was deeply personal for him. 

He understands that his daughters will date one day, so he wrote ‘To the Guys That Date My Girls,’ which hit close to home. He recalls that a discussion on fatherhood and ‘what ifs’ inspired him to pen this emotional track. 

This [song] is kind of like a rough draft of a letter that I kind of felt like things a guy would need to know when you come over to my house to pick up one of my daughters for the first time. 

Thomas Rhett’s Decision to Adopt 

Akins and his wife, Lauren Akins, always wanted to grow their family but had trouble conceiving on their own, so they adopted.

In May 2017, a few months after celebrating their fourth wedding anniversary, the two welcomed their new daughter, Willa Gray Akins that the two had adopted from Uganda after a year-long adoption journey, “On the way to the airport, it was like Christmas Day,” the country star told People while his wife added, 

 It felt like a dream. I’ve dreamed of us all being on the same continent for so long. It finally feels like everyone is where they’re supposed to be.

Lauren had first met Willa in 2016 when she was visiting Uganda with the charity, 147 Million Orphans.

She felt a connection with Willa and felt like her own struggles with conceiving was a sign. Willa’s story was so heart-wrenching that Akins felt connected and attached with the little girl through her own pain and struggle with getting pregnant. 

But God Had a Surprise for the Couple

The couple had stopped trying to have a baby on their own when they started the adoption process. But when Lauren began feeling sick while vacationing on a week-long safari in Tanzania, Akins suggested she take a pregnancy test.

She was convinced it was just food poisoning but took a pregnancy test just to be sure and was expecting a negative result. But to her surprise, the test came back positive and she was over the moon. Akins, who was in complete shock, suddenly felt they were having twins, and he was not prepared. 

It was definitely a blessing for the couple. They now have 2 more daughters, Ada James, and Lennon Love, and couldn’t be happier.