Foster Father Shares His Journey

Foster Father Benjamin, a father of 7, shares his inspiring fostering-to-adoption experience with Foster Love - Together We Rise.

Every family’s foster to adoption is different, some start with the goal of adoption. Other’s have opened their hearts so fully as foster parents that they can’t continue without making their temporary family permanent. 

Becoming a Foster Father and Family

Based in Olathe, KS  becoming adoptive parents has always been a goal for the Long family. In the fall of 2010, Benjamin and his wife took their first steps towards adoption and signed up for training to become foster parents. Together, the Longs completed their license and began to foster three children under the age of 10. 

Reflecting on the beginning of his fostering journey, Benjamin states, “Zion, our oldest, joined us January while his siblings Eve and Elijah came in February. We went from 0 to 4 kids on 68 days. We spent the next three years in a court battle to adopt the eldest three. On September 11th, we headed to court to finalize our eldest three adoptions. We then got a call about a 2-day-old baby boy left at a hospital. We said yes! That’s Asher; he is now 5.”

Soon after Asher was placed in the Long Family’s care, his biological 2-month-old brother was placed with the Long family a well and is now in the process to be adopted.

Post Adoption Life

By way of fostering, Benjamin expresses that he and his wife, “are both stronger, more compassionate, understanding, individuals because of the experience.”

Benjamin’s advice to future foster parents is to, “stay the course, don’t give up, advocate for your children and write everything down. More than likely you will get your heart broken, and you will have to say goodbye. But for the child, you have a chance to change their lives and fill it with love and grace and understanding.”

Conclusion

We’d like to thank Benjamin and his family for sharing their story with us.

If you’d like your adoption story to be featured on our blog, please share your story here → bit.ly/twradoptionstory.