Seven Siblings Were Adopted Together Just in Time for Christmas

Christmas Adoption. Seven siblings who have spent the last three years maneuvering through the foster care system have just been given the greatest Christmas gift of all time. A sweet couple from Arkansas have finalized the children’s adoption just in time for the holiday.

Foreign Exchange Students. Terri and Michael Hawthorn, who have four grown-up children of their own, have fostered over 80 children over the past six years. They were first inspired to start fostering children in the early 2000s after hosting some foreign exchange students.

Younger Kids. Michael told Yahoo, “My wife finally decided she wanted to have some younger kids in the home instead of teenagers all the time, and I said, ‘We’ll do it for a couple of years, but we’re not gonna adopt any, so don’t get that in your mind.’ Well, we ate our words there.”

Custody Struggles. Three years ago the Hawthorns began fostering a set of twin girls that they immediately fell in love with. Unfortunately they ran into some major custody struggles with the girls that caused them to bounce. Michael explained to Yahoo that they were running into problems with the Department of Human Services.

Persistent. “They were not from our county. They were from an adjoining county, and the Department of Human Services (DHS) wanted to get them back in that county,” he said. But the Hawthorns were persistent in their attempts to get the girls back.

Pulling Strings. “So they were with us, then DHS moved them, three months later we got them again and had them for several months, then DHS moved them again,” he told Yahoo. “After that, we had to get a senator involved, and he had to pull some strings.” And then they learned that the twins had five other siblings.

Got Them Back. “Then we were contacted by DHS and they wanted us to take some of the other kids,” Michael recalled, “and we told them unless we can get the first two back we wouldn’t be interested, and that’s how we got them back. It took us nearly seven or eight months to get them back. We didn’t get all seven moved into our home until Feb. 9, 2018.”

Winning the Battle. “That was the battle. Once we got them back into our house Feb. 9, that was the real mountain we had finally climbed.” He told Yahoo that he knew two years ago that he wanted to adopt the siblings. He and Terri knew that they had come from a “very unhealthy situation” and their mother had lost all rights to them.

Forever Family. Michael and Terri quickly began working on adopting the seven siblings--an 8-year-old boy, twin girls aged 9, the twin girls aged 10, and 11-year-old girl, and a 15-year-old boy. The kids had been in foster care for almost three years before finally finding their forever family.

Pictures. The children posed for pictures with their new parents, holding up a sign that read “1035 days in foster care and today we were adopted.” One of the girls, Kyndal, told THV11, “It feels good to actually have a family to wake up to every morning.” Her eldest brother Dawson added, “It feels so great knowing we have a family now and won’t have to go anywhere else.”

Their Own Beds. The things that many of us take for granted were blessings for the siblings. One of the girls, Layna, told TVH11, “When I got here I was like, oh my gosh, we get our own beds.” Kyndal explained that before they were placed in foster care they had just a single bed, “and most of us slept on the floor.”

Didn’t Eat. The children also struggled with lack of food as well. Kyndall continued, “The only times we got to eat is when our neighbors would sneak us a bag of chips. We didn't have a can opener, and they'd give us the cans that we didn't know how to open. So, sometimes we just didn’t eat.”

In Trouble. The seven newest Hawthorns will join siblings Korgen, 1, and Haizlee, 3, who were adopted by the couple April of this year. The couple told TVH11 that it didn’t take long for the kids to immediately feel at home. “The first day they were in our house they started calling us Mom and Dad and probably the second day they started telling me they loved me. And I looked at my wife and I said, ‘I'm in trouble,’” Michael recalled.

Blessings. “Without a doubt they’re comfortable [with each other],” he added. Terri told WTSP, “This is a blessing, they are a blessing. Every day, these kids wake up, and they are giggling and they are happy. And, you see the smiles on their faces. That’s what makes this worth it.”

Other Opportunities. Terri continued, “We hope this will give other opportunities, and people will consider opening their homes to foster care and adoption. There is such a big need for families in Arkansas, and we will be the first to tell you, it’s not always easy, but it’s worth it. Lots of prayer and love is what made this possible.”