Father Surprises Stepdaughter Who Loves Him Dearly With Adoption Reveal At School

Aug 14, 2022 by apost team

When Mike Rousell started dating his now-wife Sarah, he had no inkling of how much his life would change. 

The pair married in March 2021 but did not come into the partnership alone. Mike and Sarah had each already had two children. While the challenges with blended families are no secret, with Sarah’s daughter, 11-year-old Camryn, Mike had nothing to worry about.

According to Mike, he and Camryn had always gotten along since he first entered her life when she was 5 years old. He said in a “Good Morning America” video: 

“We were thick as thieves soon after me and her mom started dating. We just had so much in common.” 

Among those things, as shown in the video, were sports, with clips of Mike and Camryn playing basketball and Mike pushing her as she rode a bicycle. 

Camryn became more and more attached to Mike, to the point that she asked him if she could adopt his last name as her own. In time, she would go by “Camryn Rousell” wherever she went, but there was one place she could not do that.

“The only place that we couldn’t use the name was school. We had to use her legal name and her legal description for school,” Mike said.

Mike, who never knew his father, said he understood the importance of feeling accepted and being part of a family and didn’t want Camryn to feel otherwise.

“I grew up not knowing my father. I’ve never met my father and I understand the feeling of not feeling valued, wanting to be accepted, wanting to have something of your own.”

Because of this, he decided to give Camryn the absolute gift of family in a way that would melt even the hardest of hearts.

In 2018, Mike would begin the process of legally adopting Camryn as his own daughter, which was finalized three years later. In June 2021, he decided to surprise her with the good news at school, holding a banner that read: “I gave you my heart 5 years ago and now I give you my last name!” 

When Camryn finally walked down the school hallway, she appeared confused about the commotion. Once she was close enough to read the sign, her face broke out into a smile as she fast-walked her way straight to Mike, who picked her up and gave her a massive hug, the deep emotions written clearly across his face. 

“Seeing Camryn’s face – she broke down and in turn, I broke down,” Mike said, adding, “adoption for me was a promise. I promised that I would always be there for her, I would love her unconditionally and that I just wasn’t in her life by accident.”

For Mike, one of his main goals was to ensure Camryn always had someone to lean on.

“For me to be able to give that to Camryn, it kind of gives me some closure and it also helps her. She can bank on somebody in her corner no matter what and that’s me as dad.”

He also had a few words of wisdom for step-parents who felt unseen or unheard.

“To all the step-parents, I understand what it feels like to go to baseball games and to go to soccer games and feel like the third wheel a lot of times but you show up anyway. I just want you to know that you’re appreciated, you are valued and you are making a different difference in these kids’ life. Our babies cannot have enough people in their corner.” 

apost.com

How endearing is Mike Rousell and Camryn’s stepdad-stepdaughter relationship? Shouldn’t we all have somebody in our corner the way Mike is in Camryn’s? Let us know your thoughts, and pass this along to family and friends who’d love to hear about this precious bond.