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The Strong Family

Strong Family

We decided to become foster/adoptive parents because we could not have children together. So we started looking on the web. After seeing so many children that needed homes there was no doubt in our minds that we had to adopt, and adopt through the foster care system. We felt we could give children hope for a better future. How did we choose an agency? We weren’t certain where to start, but we knew we wanted to have the ability to adopt anywhere in the U.S. The agency we chose had grants to pay for our study, plus we would be allowed to adopt outside of Ohio. Other families who had adopted influenced/supported us through the process.

We met our first two children after their social workers from Alabama were settled in their hotel. We went there and everyone was waiting for us in the foyer of the hotel. The kids ran screaming “mom/dad we are here!!” Both my husband and I were excited and we could not believe how beautiful these children were and how they were now ours. Once they were home, we did what we knew how to do. We spent endless hours playing and being a family. It is wonderful to see them start to change and to grow; become the persons they were intended to be - to have a future. We adopted a sib group of two that we first saw on AdoptUsKids almost five years ago. Since then we have adopted five more. It was so exciting to actually see pictures of the children and not just words. We have since found adoptuskids.org to have awesome resources as well.

We offer this advice to other prospective adoptive families: be certain that the child is a match. There is no magical wand. Love isn't always enough, but time, doctors, and understanding go a long way. Try to understand that these kids come from a very hard place. As parents we often have to change our mindset to adjust to, and to understand why children act and think as they often do. We were surprised to learn that there are so many children that age out of the system. That is very sad for us. Not everyone accepts older children. Within the communities it takes a strong family to not allow school teachers, coaches, etc., to continue to treat your child as though they were less than the other children. For us, we let the community know right away that these were our children, that we were blessed to have them in our lives, and that we would not accept anything less from others towards them. We are open to adopting again!

Find out more how to adopt and how to foster.

Media who would like to interview the Strong family, contact us at info@adoptuskids.org or 888-200-4005.