Two Fathers Feel 'Blessed' To Adopt Six Siblings Who Were In Foster Care For Over Four Years

May 02, 2022 by apost team

People who have been through adoption know that families can be created with love, and blood relations do not always mean that a child is a part of your family. With the number of children who are looking for loving families across the world, many couples choose to adopt as their primary way to create a family. Others may need to choose adoption due to an inability to have children. Either way, millions of children have benefitted from adoption and found their forever families. 

Generally, when it comes to adopting, people attempt to adopt one child at a time. There are certainly some heartwarming stories of people adopting more than one child at a time, but due to the laws that surround adoption as well as the cost of it, most parents start by adopting one child at a time. Sometimes, though, people wanting to be parents go above and beyond and push for multiple adoptions to keep certain children together. Although the task isn't always easy, many take it on to avoid siblings getting separated from one another.

It's not every day that you get the chance to save the life of one person, let alone six people. For Rob and Steve Anderson-McLean, a married couple living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the opportunity to be everyday heroes came in the form of six neglected foster children. Rob and Steve officially adopted the six children on May 23, 2019, in order to keep the siblings together.

Read on to learn more about the Anderson-McLeans' journey to building a family of their own. 

Six siblings, ranging in age from seven to fourteen, were at risk of being separated permanently after floating around in an already-crowded foster care system. The children had been shuffled in and out of homes that didn't have the resources to care for them.

According to the National Center For Youth Law, "estimates indicate that well over half of children in foster care nationwide have one or more siblings also in care. Some sources state that as many as 75 percent of these foster children are placed apart from one or more of their siblings." With those estimates, six siblings may have very little chance of staying together within the system.

The Anderson-McLeans married in 2013 with adult children who had already flown the coop, as reported by Good Morning America (GMA). The couple realized they still had love to give and weren't finished being parents yet.

When they heard of the six siblings' story, they were touched. The kids had been in the foster care system for nearly five years and had experienced abuse and neglect, according to GMA.

When they decided to adopt all six of them, the judge warned them that it would be a huge undertaking and that they would be henceforth legally responsible for all of them just as much as if they were the youths' biological parents.

However, the couple was undeterred. While aware that there would be challenges, Steve told GMA that when he looked into the eyes of his future children, he felt an instant and unbreakable emotional bond.

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"There are no rules as to what can constitute a family and the love that we share," Rob told GMA.

At the adoption ceremony, all eight members of the new and reunited family wore t-shirts emblazoned with the rhyming words, "Anderson-McLean, Established 2019."

The siblings are adjusting well to their new home. Prior to coming home with their new parents, they'd spent over four years in foster care. While the couple admitted that there have certainly been challenges, it's nothing that love can't overcome.

"We've known them for less than a year, [but] it feels as if our emotional bonds were years in the making. I'd say our kids have brought a great kind of crazy to our lives. It's heartwarming and so exciting to see how they connect with us and our extended family and friends," Rob told ABC News.

Steve told GMA:

"It was a bad background, a sad story -- there was neglect and abuse. It was in the fall of 2017 that parental rights were terminated...Such a staggering amount of sibling groups are broken up, and it broke our hearts...We never imagined we'd be lucky enough or blessed enough to have six."

In the end, it takes a lot more than blood to make a family. It takes love, courage and the willingness to be selfless for the good of another human being. Rob and Steve aren't just these kids' parents, but they're their heroes as well. Hopefully, more people will consider adopting all siblings together, so more families can avoid being separated through the system. 

"Es gibt keine Regeln dafür, was eine Familie ist und für die Liebe, die wir füreinander haben", sagte Rob GMA.

Bei der Adoptionszeremonie trugen alle acht Mitglieder dieser neuen kleinen Familie T-Shirts, auf denen die Worte "Anderson-McLean, gegründet 2019" standen.

Have you ever done something selfless for someone who needed you? What do you think it takes to make a family? Let us know your thoughts, and be sure to pass this heartwarming story on to others!