Every day in the United States alone, approximately 438,000 children live in foster care, or 438,000 children waiting for their lives to stop being so uncertain and for the right family to come and claim them.
Worldwide, that number is exponentially higher, at 153 million. Needless to say, foster parents are a godsend, as are people who adopt. Paige and Daniel Zezulka from Athens, Georgia are both types of people.
Three years ago, the Zezulkas began fostering three young children, all siblings and all under the age of 10. Despite their young age, each of them had gone through more hardships than most adults endure in their lifetime.
The two younger siblings can’t remember a time when they weren’t with the Zezulkas, but Ivey, the older sister, is all too aware of their situation, and she’s long dreamed of the day when she can finally call a set. parents “Mom” and “Dad”. Her dream came true on her birthday, everyday.
Ivey and his twin brother and sister had been with Paige and Daniel for three years, which for most young children is a lifetime. They each considered the Zezulkas to be their parents, but the problem was that the arrangement was not “official”, which meant that the siblings could have been snatched from the house at any time and placed in the care of someone else.
Such a thought frightened both Ivey, Paige and Daniel. However, unbeknownst to Ivey, Paige and Daniel had been in the middle of the adoption process for some time, and it wasn’t until the end of August that they finally learned the good news. : the adoption has taken place! The craziest thing is that the news fell on Ivey’s birthday.
The couple wanted the announcement to be special, so they quickly prepared a last-minute gift for Ivey to open, a little box that would hold all the joy in the world. Inside was a plaque informing Ivey that she was officially a Zezulka, and the beautiful moment is caught on camera.
“Am I going to be adopted?”
“We love you, darling. We will always be your parents,” Daniel whispers to the crying child.
“Can you believe it? God is too good,” Paige tearfully tells her daughter.
“She had been praying to be adopted and we found out on her birthday that it was coming! God’s timing was perfect! Our children spent 1,128 days in foster care, over 3 years. It is so difficult for children to live with such uncertainty. Adoption is amazing and we want others to know that adopting older children and groups of siblings can be the greatest adventure you can ever have!”
You really can’t watch this video without bursting into tears of joy yourself. You can visibly see the weight being lifted from Ivey’s shoulders as she realizes that the moment she’s been waiting for years has finally arrived.
“This will be my favorite video I will ever share,” Paige wrote when she shared the video on Facebook. “It was the day we told our daughter that we could adopt her (and her brother and sister)!”
Ivey, her twin siblings and Paige and Daniel all went to court on August 24 to make everything “officially official”.
Fostering a child is one of the most selfless things you can do, but when an individual or couple makes the decision to adopt, it can change a child’s life. Congratulations to the Zezulka family – we wish you all the love and happiness in the world!