There are over 406,000 children in the United States foster care system who have either been placed, or are waiting to be placed with, a caring family.
For all those children, there are less than 215,000 foster parents.
Two of those parents are Cindy and Jeffrey Moore who live just outside of Buffalo, New York.
The Moores estimate that in their 8 years as foster parents, they have had about 30 children in their care.
One of these children they got when she was just 2 months old.
Cece was supposed to stay with the family for just a few nights as an emergency temporary placement, that was 5 years ago.
From the moment Cindy saw her face, she told the foster agency that, if the girl needed a more permanent placement, they would be happy to keep her.
The very next day, the agency called and asked if they were serious about keeping her for longer and both Cindy and Jeffrey said they very much were.
For five years they raised Cece, along with all the other children that came into their home.
Some stayed only a few days, some were there for much longer.
Two of the kids that had lived with the Moores as fosters made such an impact on the couple that they ended up adopting them.
The Moores knew that if they were presented with the opportunity, they would officially adopt Cece in a heartbeat.
After 1,954 days, they finally got that honor.
Cece is now officially a Moore and she is ecstatic to have two loving parents and two new siblings by her side.
Mom Cindy told WKBW:
“We’ve had very sweet kids come and go through our home, but luckily this one isn’t going anywhere.”
On the very day of Cece’s adoption, the family got word that her half-brother, who they were already fostering, would be adoptable too.
Cindy believes that, as a foster parent,
“You’re just helping take care of them in a time of need. Something that I think people need to go into foster care knowing is that the primary goal is always reunification with the family,” she told Good Morning America.
However, if that reunification isn’t possible, that is when you can start the adoption process.
If it were up to the Moores, they would have adopted Cece a long time ago, however, they had to wait until her birth family had fully given up their rights to her.
Now that that is the case, the family can move forward together onto bigger and better things, and soon her biological brother will be an official part of the mix as well.
The Moore parents are kind and caring people who always knew children were in their futures and, after struggling with infertility, decided they weren’t going to let that stop them and would still care for as many children as they could.
If you, like the Moores, are looking for a positive way to give back to your community and help some children in need, please consider fostering.
Meet Cece and her new adoptive family in the video clip below!
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Source: YouTube – Good Morning America, WKBW ABC7, Good Morning America, Foster VA, Child Welfare
