11 adoptions: The ‘Best Gift Ever’
Joy-filled ceremony gives foster children their ‘forever homes’ as new parents celebrate
Adalee couldn’t keep still in her mother’s arms, flailing in a pair of red and green bell-bottom pants and a shirt boasting that she was the “Best Gift Ever.”
To her new adoptive parents, the shirt couldn’t have been more appropriate on the day when the 1year-old would officially be welcomed into their family. She and 10 other Houstonarea foster children found their “forever homes” on Friday with a joyous series of court proceedings that felt, to some, like a Christmas that had come early.
“I’m in shock still, because we’re just waiting and waiting and waiting, and then she’s yours,” said Adalee’s adoptive mother, Manderly Ringor.
Nine families crammed into a courtroom at the Harris County Juvenile Justice Center for the event, surrounded by friends and rejoicing in celebration at each adoption.
The excitement was almost palpable, such as when a court employee walked in the room and asked, “Are you here for adoption?” New father Aaron Walker raised his arms and let out a cheer.
He and his wife, Katie, were the first of the day. After fostering their 2-yearold son for almost his entire life, the couple stood in front of Judge Julie Crow with wide smiles.
Katie and Aaron Walker became foster parents with the hope that they could of-
fer a safe place for children who needed temporary care.
In Jacob’s case, reunifying him with his birth mother wasn’t possible, Katie Walker said, so they were overjoyed at the ability to give him a permanent home.
“I get teared up, just thinking about it,” Katie Walker said. “It’s life-changing. To be that for him, it’s a privilege.”
Justin and Manderly Ringor had fostered Adalee almost from birth, they said.
As the judge granted the adoption, about a dozen family members and friends clapped and joined in shouting “Hurrah!” Adalee, with a ponytail on the top of her head and a pacifier halfway out of her mouth, looked around and put her hands together, mimicking the celebration.
Rylee and Zechariah, fraternal twins who are almost 2 years old, were dressed to impress. In a black and bright-pink dress, Rylee sat in her adoptive father’s arms with a new stuffed hedgehog, given to her for the occasion.
Zechariah, in a baggy suit, hung upside-down from his mother’s waist as the judge heard their case.
His new older sister tickled his stomach, and he shrieked in glee.
The twins will join a family with five other children, one of whom is adopted.
“We’re just relieved that it’s finally done, and we can officially tell everyone that they’re ours,” father Troy Kerr said.
The adoptions on Friday were just some of the many that occur each year in the greater Houston area, and there are always many more permanent homes that are needed, said Tejal Patel, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services in the Houston region.
In the 2018 fiscal year, 920 children were adopted in Harris County and the 12 surrounding counties, Patel said.
Currently, 820 children in the area are in need of adoptive homes, and 657 children are already in homes where the families plan to adopt them.
Patel said the adoptions are always heart-warming to her, especially knowing how much some of the children have already struggled early in life.
“For them to start over with someone new who wants to love them and care for them, it’s amazing,” Patel said.
The journey for Tamasin Artru and her wife Norma Ludwig has been a long one, they said. When Crow declared 2year-old Alex officially adopted, Artru did a shimmy on the courtroom floor.
She and Ludwig moved behind the judge for a photo, holding Alex close. As they posed, Alex clutched his new teddy bear and cracked a smile.
“It’s amazing,” Artru said, describing their happy moment. “It was like, ‘Finally.’ ”
“I get teared up, just thinking about it. It’s life-changing. To be that for him, it’s a privilege.”
Katie Walker, adoptive mother