Adoption Exchange Marks 7,000 Adoption Milestone
AURORA, Colo (CBS4) - Adoption changes the lives of children in the foster care system. On Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012, the Adoption Exchange marked a milestone, their 7,000th adoption.
The Adoption Exchange is a child welfare organization that focuses on finding homes for older children in foster care. The organization was founded in 1983 and over the years it's facilitated 7,000 adoptions.
Lauren was one of those adoptions. Lauren went into the foster care system when she was 11.
"She remembers how frightened she was that she would be removed from the abusive circumstances she was in, and then realized that she would be more frightened to be returned to those circumstances," said Dixie van de Flier Davis, founder of the Adoption Exchange.
Lauren spent four years in foster care. She bounced from one home to another and never felt loved.
"If you would have asked me when I was 14 if I was going to ever get married, I would have probably told you, 'No,' because I never felt like I was good enough to be loved," Lauren told CBS4.
Lauren did find love. The Adoption Exchanged helped her find a forever family. She was adopted at age 15 and became a part of a solid, supportive family unit.
"Being adopted is probably the best thing that's ever happened to me," she said.
Now Lauren is in her 20s and she's found love again. Lauren got married in July. She had those precious moments with her mother and a dance with her dad, it was the picture perfect wedding.
"Lauren now knows that she can give her heart to a handsome young man, who's there to catch her tears, when she has them… who's there to love her and she doesn't lose her family in the process. She's got more," van de Flier Davis added.
Lauren has more family than she ever dreamed of, and now she can look forward to starting a family of her own.
"It makes a difference in our world. We are living in a different world because of the people who claim the children," van de Flier Davis said.
