Families give 24 children their forever homes at Lee County ceremony

Reporter: Breana Ross Writer: Jack Lowenstein
Published:
Family members sit inside the Lee County courthouse during a mass adoption ceremony to give children their forever homes Saturday, Nov. 23. Credit: WINK News.

Two dozen local children finally have their forever families. We went to the special ceremony, where families stood before a judge to give the children they love their forever homes.

It was a mass adoption day at the Lee County courthouse in Fort Myers Saturday, where 24 children were officially made part of their forever families.

“It’s a sense of relief knowing that I’m going to be able to call her my mom for the rest of my life,” adoptive child Byron Adams said.

It was both smiles and tears of joy marking the moment that many will never forget.

“It’s just a really special contrast for all the things they go through,” said Judge Geffrey Gentile, who presided over the adoption ceremony. “End up today being adopted by their forever families is just a great special day.”

Adoptive mother Nicole Schofield and her two boys have been on their journey for five years, and they said the day’s event was a longtime coming.

“All the challenges we faced, it was definitely worth this to have them forever,” Schofield said.

For the Andrews family, the day meant turning their family of 10 into a family of 15.

“We said that we’d never do it after the first one,” adoptive mother Faythe Andrews said. “We just thought we were done, and now we’re back with five more.”

This weekend’s mass adoption ceremony was organized by the Children’s Network of Southwest Florida. Event organizers told us they are in dire need of foster families. To learn more, visit the Children’s Network of Southwest Florida website.

“Their world changes,” Andrews said. I think they’re some of the most amazing people I’ve met.”

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