“It all started with a fire. My biological parents had bills to pay. They gave me up, knowing they may never see me again. A family reached out. I had no idea what adoption was. They didn’t look like me or talk like me. Why were they handing me gifts? Why were my foster parents crying? I didn’t know what was happening. How could I? I was only 6. Soon, I was taken away. Little did I know that plane ride would change my life forever. I was halfway across the world.”
‘Wen, we’d like to adopt you.’ My body was burned and abandoned on a doorstep. I was given a second chance at life.’: Burn survivor adopted from foster care system, ‘I’m so lucky to be alive and in a loving family!’
‘On her 10th birthday, her belongings were jammed into trash bags, already waiting for her. She was yanked from her entire life, and thrust into a new one.’: Social worker candidly shares reality of foster care system
“We do not mean to devalue our kids. But we do it. Every single day. There are too many kids, too many broken families. But the thing is: it matters how you move them. It matters if it happens on their birthday, or if you forget a favorite stuffed animal in the shuffle. That nobody in their new home knows how they like their eggs, and there are no pictures on the walls but biological family. These things send a clear message: You’re invisible. You don’t matter. You’re a throwaway kid, now.”
‘Why didn’t you adopt your own kind?’ They’re African-American, I’m Italian, my husband is Filipino. My love for them is like no other.’: Couple adopt 5 children from foster care, ‘I wouldn’t have it any other way!’
“Something traumatic happened to one of the girls. The unwanted drama and heartache began. The social worker took us for a wild ride. She gave us an ultimatum. ‘If you don’t take the youngest sister back, I will take all 3 girls and place them in another home.’ I knew in my heart I couldn’t handle 6 children! One minute they needed to be adopted, and the next they were going home with their biological family.”
‘My birth mom did cocaine while pregnant. I was hooked before I was even born. ‘Don’t stop,’ my boyfriend told me. I listened.’: Woman overcomes life-long battle with addiction, ‘Sober is sexy!’
“I knew they would reject me if I said no. ‘Sure, I’ll try it.’ I made a fool of myself. My ‘friends’ loved it. They bragged about me at school, about how cool I was. It was a thrill to be accepted for once. I didn’t know it was for the wrong reasons. It got to the point where I was homeless, using drugs to try to overdose. But it never worked. Every morning, I would wake up, cry, and tell myself it was the last time I was going to take drugs. But every night I would use again, trying to kill myself. Every day, and every night.”
‘Congrats, it’s a boy.’ His parents terminated their rights. ‘That’s it? It’s over?’ I was in such shock I was numb.’: Single woman becomes ‘forever mom’ after unexpectedly adopting son, ‘He’s the best gift I never knew I wanted!’
“I was single, living in a cramped apartment, and determined to NEVER be a mom. I just wanted a man to share my life with until my final breath. I hoped he’d arrive in the form of a 6’3, dark-haired, bearded intellectual with a swimmer’s body. Little did I know Mr. Right would arrive in a different form. Jack is the answer to a prayer I didn’t even know I was praying.”
‘I would NEVER drug my child.’ I was appalled. ‘Too much for me?!,’ I exclaimed. It was a nightmare that broke me.’: Foster mom’s children are removed after son gets into medication, ‘It felt like battle’
“My son climbed onto the counter and got into some medication. This launched an investigation of abuse on me. The state caseworkers were trying to prove I purposely overdosed my son because he was ‘just too much for me.’ ‘Too much for me?!,’ I exclaimed, ‘These kids are everything to me.’ They replied, ‘We believe you’re too stressed from a recent divorce. We need to make sure you are safe for your children.’ I felt the fire consume me. It was all so much.”
‘Are you willing to take in sisters?’ We said yes. Next, our phones buzzed. The e-mail subject line said, ‘Baby.’ There was another. Our lives were about to change.’: LGBT couple adopt 3 siblings from foster care, get touching ‘sign’ they made the right decision
“We were sitting at dinner when we got the call. Our daughter’s biological mom had had another little girl. ‘Would you consider letting her grow up with her sisters?’ We’d already closed our foster license and hadn’t expected to expand our family. With 2 days to decide, we did the most adult thing we could think of: we made a Pros and Cons list. After looking it over a hundred times, we decided we needed to follow our hearts!”
‘What in the world are you doing?!’ My son was about to chow down when I stopped him. ‘I made myself dinner.’: Foster mom shares heartbreaking story of son’s trauma, ‘we must not give up, our kids didn’t’
“‘I wanted to eat something I used to eat a lot with my old family.’ He said they wouldn’t feed him due to being passed out (you can guess why). He’d make dinner for himself and his brothers. All the money they had was spent on cigarettes, so he’d find change in their van and buy Ramen packets at the store down the street, at 6 years old! I walked away in shock, in sadness, and so, so so proud of how strong my baby is.”
‘He was only 2-years-old. She was only 5-months-old. It was as if they knew. I never witnessed anything like it.’: 47-year-old mother fosters, then adopts siblings, celebrates ‘resiliency’ of children
“We received a call from a very desperate young man named Jonathan. ‘My wife is not properly caring for our 4-month-old son.’ He very was concerned about the welfare of his baby and convinced his wife to allow us to help. My husband and I are 47-years-old, we are sometimes mistaken as the grandparents. We know we probably won’t have an empty nest and that’s just fine with us.”
‘Oh, are you babysitting?’ ‘They’re mine.’ I’m a 30-year-old single black woman with 3 white kids. Love has no color in my home.’: Woman adopts 1 boy, 2 siblings from foster care, ‘love is love, no matter the color’
“I heard a knock on the door. There, on my doorstep, stood this beautiful, petite little girl. ‘My name is Alexis.’ I realized she was alone. ‘Are you sure about adoption? ‘You don’t think 3 children is a lot?’ ‘You realize this means you will be financially responsible for them, right?’ I was already a single mom, what was I thinking? My heart immediately dropped. YES, YES, YES. I just couldn’t say no.”
