Arizona couple Brenda and Curt Heuer have been foster parents to 52 children over the past 12 years — children of different ages, backgrounds, and races. The couple says they have always aimed to take in siblings, to avoid making them split up.
“We always tried to cater to the larger sibling group of children to keep them together,” Brenda told CBS News.
Two years ago, the Heuers began caring for five siblings: Brianna, 9; Kristyl, 7; Bradley, 6; Emily, 3; and Katie, 2. Arizona’s 12 News reports that the children came from an abusive home “where drugs and alcohol were a factor for their parents.” The children’s father had passed away, and their mother was reportedly not in contact with the family. Other relatives tried to take in the siblings, but were unable to care for so many children together.
So the Heuers did the one thing they could do to make sure the siblings didn’t have to split up: they adopted all five of them.
“Due to the circumstances, knowing these children would likely be separated, and that’s all they had left in this world is each other — it’s just heartbreaking,” Brenda said. “We didn’t want to see that happen.”
The new family enjoys camping, boating, and travelling together. “They call us mom and dad,” Brenda told People. “We’re such a family, we go camping together, and we’re going to take them to Disneyland for their adoption celebration.”
Brenda says that the support they have received since announcing their decision to adopt has been encouraging. And while the adoption represents a happy ending for the siblings, the Heuers left open the possibility of the story continuing. When asked if the they plan on taking in any more foster children in the future, Brenda replied, “You never know!”
