Instagram (Tim Ballard) Tim Ballard and his wife, Katherine Ballard.
Katherine Ballard is the wife of former Department of Homeland Security agent Tim Ballard. Where is she now?
She is helping Ballard raise their family of nine children, according to his posts on Instagram.
In the movie “Sound of Freedom,” Ballard’s wife is played by actress Mia Sorvino. She is presented as a sympathetic figure who supports her husband’s travels to Colombia to combat sex trafficking.
Ballard is a real person who started a non-profit organization to rescue children who were victims of human trafficking. In real life, his wife has also been supportive of his efforts, which have sparked controversy in some corners.
Today Katherine and Tim Ballard remain very much married and devoted to rescuing children. “Love you so much!!” Tim Ballard wrote in 2021 on Instagram in a birthday post to his wife.
Here’s what you need to know about Katherine Ballard, Tim Ballard’s wife:
Tim Ballard Met His Wife, Katherine, While in College at Brigham Young University
Ballard’s non-profit organization has a web page devoted to his wife Katherine. “She is his sounding board, spiritual guru and biggest supporter avows Tim Ballard, Founder and CEO of Operation Underground Railroad. He’s talking about the love of his life, Katherine Ballard, without whom he would not have started O.U.R.,” it reads.
“Right about the time I was about to leave the safety of the government job and go into this unknown world, I was seriously doubting if I should do this. It was the week before I was going to turn my badge in, and I was like, ‘I don’t think I can do this,'” the page quotes Tim Ballard as saying.
“And Katherine just told me, ‘You have no choice. You’ve been called to do this. You know it’s the right thing to do.’ And there’s a sense of comfort there because all it would take in that moment is for her to say, ‘You’re right. I’m scared.’ And I would not have done it,” it says.
According to the website: “Rewind 16 years. Tim and Katherine first met at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. They quickly fell in love, married and began a family. Six children later, they still have that starry-eyed look whenever they talk about each other.”
“It’s easy for me to support him because I love him,” says Katherine on the page. “Even so, it can be difficult. There are sleepless nights and moments when it’s easier to just not think about it.”
In 2020, Ballard wrote on Instagram, “I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for Katherine. She loves me the most and I love her the most and together we strive to love God even more. #givethanks.”
Tim Ballard Called His Wife Katherine an ‘Intentional & Loving Mother’ of Their 9 Children, Including 2 Who Were Adopted From Haiti
Tim Ballard has given shout-outs to his wife Katherine on Instagram. He wrote a tribute to her for Mother’s Day in 2022.
“Yesterday we got to celebrate Katherine!! One moment I’ll never forget is when I called her after one of O.U.R.‘s first operations in Haiti. I couldn’t stop thinking about two of the little kids I had met. I was torn up about it all night. When I called Katherine about it, our conversations led to the topic of adoption,” he wrote.
“Bring them home. I want to be their mother,” she said to Ballard, he recalled.
“And here we are a few years later, a full family of 11. Katherine is such an intentional and loving mother for our 9 kids. Happy Mother’s Day to Katherine and my wonderful mom Melanie!!” Ballard continued.
On the website, Katherine explained,
My husband called, and he was with them, and I felt like we needed to start the process, and I just felt peace about that. It happened that quickly. Tim was there, and I think if I was there, I’d be like, ‘We just need to adopt every single child here.
As a mother, there’s so much … we have so much and there’s so much we could do to help so many people. My husband and I have such a great relationship. When he was holding those kids and playing with those kids and talking to me, I could just feel that there was this connection. He asked me, ‘Do you need to go down there and meet them?’ and I don’t, because I can just feel it through him.
Katherine Ballard Says She Finds It Stressful When Her Husband Is on a Mission
According to the O.U.R. website, Katherine Ballard discussed the most stressful parts of their efforts.
She said:
The most stressful part for me is, of course, when he’s on a mission. Honestly, people always ask me, ‘How do you deal with that?’ If I were the wife of a cop, I think I’d be more nervous because they’re going into situations that they don’t know what’s happening. My husband has always known. ‘Okay, we scouted out this area.’ They know what’s going on and they’re as prepared as they can be.
But, when it comes to the time when he says, ‘Okay, I’m going in,’ thank goodness for modern technology because he’s always texting me and calling me right before and after [the undercover deal and arrest]. And that’s when I’m most nervous. It’s like, ‘Alright I’m going in,’ and then I can’t talk to him until I hear back. And sometimes it’s like an hour or two. One time it took four hours and that was getting a little stressful. Four hours is too long.
READ NEXT: The Real Story of Tim Ballard.