Update 5/12/15- We’ve received notice that the children featured in this story have been placed in a family. Although the children’s pictures and information were on the Arkansas Department of Human Services adoption website at the time this article was published, new information has been received that they are no longer available and a family has been selected.
Imagine this scenario: what if during your childhood, your mother left home one day and never came back. Then after abandoning you, imagine if she was arrested for endangerment, went to jail, got released the next day and then left the state for good. That is exactly what happened to five adorable children in Arkansas.
Joshua, 9, Dominick, 8, Caleb, 6, Chris, 5, and Zariya, 4, haven’t seen their mother since June of 2013. With the help of their DHS Family Services worker, Willie Barker, these adorable siblings have been placed in foster care. The children are currently looking to find a forever family to call their own. However, finding a family who will take in five siblings who want to stay together can be quite a daunting task.
This is why KTHV stepped in to help the Arkansas Department of Human Services put together a heartwarming video interview with these loving children. The interview took place in North Little Rock’s Chuck E. Cheese. You can watch the boys play basketball, arcade games, and run around with their little sister. It’s evident from the taping the children have a lot of love between them.
Although the kids have laughing moments, they also shed tears. When the KTHV reported asked them what it was like being split into separate foster homes, Joshua said, “It makes me feel like a dungeon.” Joshua’s vulnerability lead to his brother Caleb starting to cry.
The children shouted, “We all wanna be together!” Since Zariya is deaf, has bi-lateral cochlear implants and uses sign language as her primary mode of communication, the court ordered that the adoptive family who takes them in must be fluent in sign language. This is also a factor that makes the children hard to place. The children’s Family Service worker Willie Barker told KTHV, “I know it’s not their fault they’re in foster care…but anyone out there that’s watching who can accommodate five kids, I think this is the best group of kids they can possibly adopt.”
My heart aches after watching the video of these siblings. My desire is to help them find a good family that will love them as they grow.
Adoption must be at the heart of the pro-life movement. Those of us who care for the dignity of the unborn must be willing to make sacrificial choices to care for children of every age.
I’m grateful to know many pro-life adoptive parents who’ve given their time, energy and resources to help children in need. Yet the need is great and we need more families that will take in children that are not their own. One of the biggest accusations towards pro-lifers is that we care for the child only when they are unborn. As we continue to adopt children in need we prove that accusation is false. More importantly, we show society a picture of what true love looks like.
