A 12-year-old foster kid finally got his happy ending. After his second adoption fell through, his best friend’s family decided to adopt him.
In 2018, a family from Tennessee welcomed Andrew, a foster kid who had been in the system since he was six years old. Dominique and Kevin Gill told Today Parents that the state took away Andrew’s parents’ rights, and Andrew’s four siblings got adopted right away.
The first time wasn’t easy
The first week with Andrew was tough, as the young parents remembered. The then-10-year-old was shy and would mostly stay in his room with the door shut. Dominique said Andrew “behaved badly” at first. He would yell at them and push them away. But the couple didn’t give up on him. They wanted to give him the love and care he deserved.
He and Dominique’s son, Joc, didn’t hit it off the first time they met. That day would come later, when they found out they had some things in common. They both loved playing video games, especially Minecraft. And they both loved Pop-Tarts for snacks. That started the friendship that would help Andrew find his forever home and new family.
Adopting Andrew wasn’t the original plan
Andrew left after living with the Gills for more than a year, but the boys stayed friends. Dominique and Kevin said they didn’t want to adopt a kid. Fostering was their way of helping as many kids as possible. It was a kind of tradition that Dominique’s parents began, and the couple kept going.
They loved Andrew a lot, but they just wanted to help him find a family that would take him in. But after Andrew’s second adoption didn’t work out, Dominique and Kevin knew that Andrew was meant to be with them.
Foster boy no more
One day, Andrew got the surprise of his life while walking through the park with Youth Villages counselor Molly Parker. He turned around and saw familiar faces holding balloons and signs. When the Gills asked him if he wanted to join their family, Andrew didn’t think twice and said, “Yeah.”
Youth Villages shared the touching moment in a Twitter post. “We don’t know which is sweeter,” they wrote, “Andrew and Joc’s love of @KelloggsUS PopTarts or the bond these two share!”
We don’t know which is sweeter: Andrew and Joc’s love of @KelloggsUS PopTarts, or the bond these two share! We are thrilled that Andrew has found his forever family with his best friend and new brother, Joc, and the Gill family. Thx @WSMV for sharing! https://t.co/OystsoBfwd pic.twitter.com/1w0uqDLtcc
— Youth Villages (@youthvillages) September 1, 2020
#ThankYou Gill Family 😍 What a wonderful story Joc and Andrew. And I'm with them #FrostedCherryPopTarts! | A dream come true: Adoption unites best friends https://t.co/ZMmpI7PacO
— Karen Bowman (@KBow5) September 7, 2020
There are over 415,000 kids in foster care in the U.S., and about 8,000 are in Tennessee. Sadly, less than 4,000 families have chosen to open their hearts, Adoption.com says. And the pandemic made things worse. Youth Villages said that calls from families who wanted to offer homes to these foster kids slowed down because of economic worries.