Choosing foster care to adopt isn’t a simple choice. There is a growing need for foster and adoptive parents nationwide and opening your home is a big decision. Foster Love - Together We Rise shares stories of foster to adoption experiences in hopes of creating a resource for others considering the path to adoption. This week, Roberta Cook and her family share their heartwarming foster to adoption story with us. 

Making the Choice

Throughout their fostering experience, the Cook family have fostered a total of 15 children. When asked what was the main motivation behind Cooks choosing foster care to adopt, they answered:

“We got into fostering to adopt and to help children.”

Starting their foster to adopt journey they wanted to adopt a five to a seven-year-old boy but a thirteen-month-old baby girl was placed in their home in November of 2014. On March 20, 2015, they adopted their little girl.  Soon after that, a boy and girl sibling set needed a forever home to which the Cooks were more than willing to provide. They later adopted them in July of 2016. 

Saying Yes

A few months later, the Cook’s were notified that a five-year-old boy needed a home. He had been in the system for over three years and was adoptable after six months.

On September 23, 2016, the Cooks decided to bring him into their forever family. “We were those foster parents that just said Yes. If we had waited for that little five to a seven-year-old boy, we would have missed out on so many amazing situations.”

Words of Advice

Looking back on her experiences, Roberta expresses, “The joy these little beauties bring to our lives is unmeasurable. It is not easy to be foster parents, and it’s not easy to go through appeals. It’s not easy living in a glass bowl, as we called it, dealing with social workers, county nurses, therapists, CASA workers and more but we realized all those people were in it for the same reason we were, to help!  Most importantly we do it all again to have our beautiful angels! As hard as fostering can be it is the best thing I have ever done. If I can help others through our story that would be beautiful.”

Thank you to the Cook family for sharing your story with us. If you are in the process of fostering to adopt, we’d like to help you photograph your adoption day. Check out our Framing Forever program for more information. https://www.togetherwerise.org/framing-forever/