A boy who appeared on national television speaking about his 10 years in foster care has finally been adopted by a loving family.
Jacob, who is now 15 years old and from Texas, appeared on ABC's local affiliate, WFAA, 2 years ago and spoke about his 10 years moving through foster care. Throughout those years, Jacob had been in 10 different foster homes and changed schools 10 different times. He spoke about how it was so difficult to get used to different sets of families, different schools, and different sets of friends that were constantly changing. In the original film a false name 'Tim' was used to protect Jacob's identity.
It was through that interview that a new foster family was found, and which ultimately resulted in them adopting Jacob.
When asked in the interview what he looked for in a mother, he said:
"Someone that cares, who's always worried. I may seem embarrassed sometimes, but she'll still be wondering if I'm okay. She'll ask how my day is every time I walk through the door."
And a dad, who:
"If I go outside, he'll go outside with me. He'll give me some normalcy."
When speaking of foster care and the centres he has stayed in, he heartbreakingly said it was:
"Kind of like being in a prison without walls. You got runners, but then where you gonna go if you run? Absolutely nowhere but right back to where you ran from."
And that he hoped a real permanent family would bring:
"Freedom. Freedom to go out the door when I want and them not worrying about me coming back or not, because they know they can trust me."
Speaking of the adoption, his new parents told reporters:
"What mattered was the connection that we found with Jacob and we just knew that was our kid. That was our son."
Most children are adopted out of foster care within 18 months but unfortunately cases such as this are not unheard of. Today in the United States, there are over 400,000 children currently in foster care, many of whom struggle to find forever homes that are happy and safe.
[Based on reporting by: faithit]
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