Not all older children and teenagers in the foster care system are lucky enough to get adopted right away. Some of them spent months and even years waiting for the right family to take them in forever.

17-year-old Akyra Holstein used to be one of them.

In fact, she spent 3,739 days in the system before she was finally adopted. That’s equivalent to 10 years of patiently waiting.

Akyra lived in 24 different foster homes.

One of those homes belonged to Katie Holsen, a data transcriptionist from Kentucky. The single mom has been fostering kids since 2017 and was able to foster around 16 kids of different ages.

Through her years of fostering kids, Katie has never fostered a child who’s more than 6 years old until she was informed about Akyra.

She recalled:

“I got the call on March 9, 2019, from my favorite social worker. She said, ‘I know you don’t do teens, but I have this girl. She’s great, her and her current foster family just need a break. What about just for the weekend?”

At that time, the young girl was just 16 years old.

She came to stay with Katie for just a week. However, she ended up staying for several short stints until her previous foster parents finally ended the placement.

Knowing how important it was to have a home while finishing high school, Katie allowed Akyra to stay with her longer.

In July 2020, the young girl gathered all her courage to ask Katie a very important question.

Akyra asked her how she felt about the adoption.

Although Katie was surprised to hear it from the teen, she felt proud of the girl.

She shared:

“I think that was an important moment for her, because that decision came completely from her. After so many years of having no control over where she lived, she got a say in what she wanted.”

The adoption ceremony was held via Zoom.

Despite not being able to hold a physical ceremony, their family and friends were still able to witness the event.

It wasn’t just Akyra’s special moment that day.

The loving mother actually expanded the family by two. Apart from Akyra, she also adopted a 1-year-old boy named Thomas. He’s a very special baby for the family.

He was only 6 days old when Katie met him. Because he was fragile, he had to spend a little time in the NICU.

Katie loved Akyra’s resilience.

She knows that being stranded in the system for such a long time isn’t easy. It can easily break a child’s spirit. Fortunately, that didn’t happen to Akyra.

Katie shared:

“Even though she’s been in foster care for so long only to be disappointed, she took a chance on me and my family and let herself be loved again.”

Moving forward, the two will have to learn how to compromise.

Katie shared:

“She’s got a lot of her own life experiences and opinions and I respect that, I’m not a domineering mum. It was a learning curve for us both, and we’re still learning now, but it’s worth it.”

The mom knows that being a parent to someone who’s nearly an adult already isn’t going to be easy. Despite that, she still wouldn’t change a thing.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: My Positive Outlooks, YouTube