“It’s not a fairytale – but nothing in life is. These are real kids we’re talking about and they need us to step up for them,” said adoptive mom about her family’s journey to adoption.

This family came to Arms Wide Adoption Services, formerly Spaulding for Children, in 2014 eager to adopt after working with an agency that only offered foster care. After coming to Arms Wide, they were given the opportunity to open their home to a sibling group of three – an opportunity they embraced whole-heartedly!

They met the siblings, two boys and one girl, during a pre-placement visit at the CPS office. Shortly after, they received a call from the children’s court advocate who expressed his fear the children would never be adopted. Together, this mom and dad knew at that moment that they would open their home and hearts to these siblings.

The siblings and the the biological family were very close in age at the time of the placement and all adjusted fairly quickly to each other! Though parental rights were terminated quickly after the siblings were placed into the home, there were still some road blocks to face before the adoption became finalized. After nearly two years of ups and downs, they officially became a family of eight in October 2016!

The siblings were thrilled to finally share their last name and officially become part of their forever family. The biological children couldn’t imagine having better playmates and siblings!

“They barely remember life without each other,” exclaimed mom.

The adopted siblings are now ages six, five, and four. The oldest went from being almost nonverbal and withdrawn to sweet, hardworking, and generous; the middle child went from throwing tantrums to becoming a bright and well behaved young man; and the youngest has made huge strides in attaching and trusting. Mom says, “To be honest, they are almost unrecognizable!”

“We can’t take credit for all of the goodness inside of them. It was there all along. We’re just the lucky ones who got to see it unlocked,” said mom of the progress the children made over the last two years.