There are thousands of children who are in desperate need of a haven. Unfortunately, there are not enough foster families to care for all of these kids.
According to Children’s Right, there are about 424,000 children in foster care in the United States on any given day.”
“In 2019, over 672,000 children spent time in U.S. foster care.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CMNQ7csB5C0/
Not every youth and teenager in foster care is fortunate enough to be adopted instantly.
Most of them waited for months, if not for years, for the right family to adopt them permanently.
Akyra Holstein, a 17-year-old girl is used to be one of them.
As a matter of fact, she spent a total of 3,739 days in foster care before she was officially adopted. And that’s equivalent to over ten years of persistently waiting.
Akyra was placed in 24 various foster homes throughout her life.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDsFkrFhVnS/
Katie Holstein, a data transcriptionist from Kentucky, was one of the foster parents.
Since 2017, the single mother has been adopting children and has been able to take care of about 16 children of different ages.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Pn6zVhd6I/
Katie had never raised a child older than six years of age in all her years of fostering before she heard about Akyra.
She recalled:
“I got the call on March 9, 2019, from my favorite social worker. She said, ‘I know you don’t do teens, but I have this girl. She’s great, her and her current foster family just need a break. What about just for the weekend?”
The sweet teen was just 16 years old at the time.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFev7oTh2vl/
She was just staying with Katie for a week.
However, she remained for several short periods until former foster parents terminated the placements.
Katie encouraged Akyra to stay with her longer because she understood how necessary it was for her to have a home while she finished high school.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEohPKPhCz_/
The young teen summoned all her bravery in July 2020 to ask Katie a critical question.
Akyra inquired about her thoughts about adoption.
Katie was astonished to hear it from the teen, but she was proud of her.
She shared:
“I think that was an important moment for her, because that decision came completely from her. After so many years of having no control over where she lived, she got a say in what she wanted.”
The overwhelming and unique adoption ceremony was held via Zoom.
Although the fact that they were unable to perform a physical ceremony, their family and friends were able to participate virtually.
It wasn’t just Akyra’s momentous event that day.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFkU6SIBcdm/
The loving mother genuinely expanded the size of her family.
She also adopted Thomas, a one-year-old child, in addition to Akyra. He is a one-of-a-kind baby for the family.
Katie met him when he was just 6 days old. He had to spend some time in the NICU because he was very fragile.
Katie admired Akyra’s courage.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CIENvkzhVjD/
Katie mentioned that:
“Even though she’s been in foster care for so long only to be disappointed, she took a chance on me and my family and let herself be loved again.”
The two will have to learn to compromise in the coming years.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFkVMX2hF6K/
Katie also shared:
“She’s got a lot of her own life experiences and opinions and I respect that, I’m not a domineering mum. It was a learning curve for us both, and we’re still learning now, but it’s worth it.”
Being a parent of someone who is almost an adult already isn’t going to be easy for Katie.
In the end, she still decided to accept Akyra and share her overflowing love!
Please SHARE this with your friends and family!
Sources: My Positive Outlooks, Katie_Irlene/Instagram
