SEGUIN, Texas – A total of 17 families celebrated their adoptions on Monday morning at Faith Lutheran Church in Seguin.
All of the children have been in foster care. Some have waited years for their adoptions to become final.
Robert and Eric Wilson have been under the care of their aunt and uncle, Rodney and Erica Wilson, for about two years. Now their aunt and uncle are Mommy and Daddy.
"They'll finally be ours permanently now," Rodney Wilson said. "There was a lot of worry about whether they were going to stay with us or not, so now we've got them for good, so it's a good thing."
For 11-year-old Jaydian Loftis, the adoption marked a bittersweet new beginning.
"To me, it's kind of sort of hard and it's kind of sort of easy because it's hard that you have to forget about your other mom and move on," she said.
However, Jaydian is still with family. She, along with her younger brother and sister, was adopted by her grandparents. They'll still get to see their biological mother but now they're home life will have stability.
"It's about being able to stay together as a family," Suzanne Loftiss, Jaydians adopted mother, said. "We want them to know that they have stability in their lives and we all love them."
Karin Bonicoro, associate judge for the Child Protection Court of Central Texas, said the adoptions are a step forward for all of the children.
"They've definitely had a rough journey but this hopefully is their destination. A happy destination," she said.