'Our Family Was Not Complete': Adoption Was The Answer

DENVER (CBS4) - Children, who are adopted out of foster care, are more likely to go to college, hold a steady job, and have a successful family of their own. For one Denver family adopting from foster care was the final step that completed their family.

"Normal is a big place in our house," said Katie, of managing a household of 10 children.

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She and her husband, Don, started their family with three biological children. While they were still very young, the couple adopted five children out of orphanages in Ethiopia. Four-years-ago, they adopted again, this time siblings who were living in foster care.

"We wanted to make sure because foster care is so up and down. It's not a clean break. So we wanted to make sure that everyone in our house was super-settled before we made that choice," Katie told CBS4.

AJ and Penny came to the family with some developmental delays, but like most young children, a little love went a long way.

"They like us, and they're nice to us," said 6-year-old Penny.

"Cause then you can have a family and you're not lost," said 7-year-old AJ of why he likes adoption.

"When you step out of the day-to-day and look at the whole thing, they've made amazing gains, socially, academically, healthy," said Don.

AJ and Penny have had some big wins, but Don warns that parenting kids out of foster care isn't always easy.

"If you're all in, it's a great thing. If you're on the fence, it's not for you," he told CBS4. "It should always be about the kids, and the minute it's not, you're in it for the wrong reasons."

It's not a decision that either of them regrets.

"I can't imagine our family without Penny and AJ in it," Katie said.

AJ and Penny can't imagine a life without their big, bustling family.

The Adoption Exchange is expanding it's services with more in-home help for families who adopt children out of foster care.