A group of siblings were separated in foster care, and one Texas family brought them back together.
Andi and Thomas Bonura welcomed Thomas, 8, Carter, 8, David, 6, Gabrielle, 4, and 2-year-old Bryson into their family on May 6, over a Zoom call thanks to the novel coronavirus, per Good Morning America (GMA).
They joined biological Bonura kids Joey, 11, Sadie, 10, and 8-year-old Daphne.
While an eight-child family sounds overwhelming, there are no sibling rivalries here.
“These are their brothers and sisters and there’s no argument,” Andi said. “The kids have been through a lot but they’re the sweetest. They’re amazing and resilient.”
The Bonura clan is now a family of 10, after the couple struggled to conceive for years, undergoing fertility treatment and even suffering a miscarriage before getting pregnant with twins.
They were told they wouldn’t be able to conceive again after Joey’s twin, Eli, died at around five months old.
“When we lost Eli, we were told we couldn’t have any more children, and we were devastated,” Andi told CBS News. “And we actually started looking at adoption then, but for some amazing reason, we had two more daughters that were a complete shock.”
Doctors advised them to avoid getting pregnant after their daughters were born, but the Bonura couple knew they wanted a big family. That was when they decided to foster.
After two of their foster babies were returned to their biological families, they were told to come pick up Bryson.
“We didn’t think we would have him forever or anything. We were there to love him for now. But we found out he had siblings,” she told CBS News.
When they found out that Bryson had four siblings, split between different foster homes, they knew they had to step in.
Eventually, the Bonuras were approved to take on some of Bryson’s siblings before getting a call informing them that all five would be put up for adoption.
“We had already been meeting with the twins, who are now 8, and we just loved them. They were constantly asking when they were going to move into our house,” she told CBS.
A car parade was organized in the family’s honour, after the adoption was formalized by DePelchin Children’s Centre.
“They’re fun to be around and they’re the greatest kids,” Andi said. “Our family is complete.”
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