WEBVTT

00:00.889 --> 00:03.806
(soft piano music)

00:04.730 --> 00:07.860
- I met Titan through
another social worker

00:07.860 --> 00:11.088
from another placement
that we had in our home.

00:11.088 --> 00:14.240
I had brought to my attention
that she had a co-worker

00:15.220 --> 00:18.633
that they were trying to place
this two-year old little boy.

00:19.520 --> 00:22.410
They had interviewed multiple
families with him there

00:22.410 --> 00:24.513
and he would not take to anybody.

00:26.810 --> 00:27.900
Either he wouldn't take to him

00:27.900 --> 00:29.480
or they just had a really bad feeling

00:29.480 --> 00:30.900
that this wasn't the right fit.

00:30.900 --> 00:33.270
They were in it for the wrong reasons.

00:33.270 --> 00:35.510
And I kind of hesitant at first,

00:35.510 --> 00:36.907
and she kept saying,

00:36.907 --> 00:39.930
"I just want you to meet this little boy.

00:39.930 --> 00:42.410
April, I just need you to meet him.

00:42.410 --> 00:44.570
I know it's a good fit."

00:44.570 --> 00:46.320
We fell in love instantly with him.

00:47.310 --> 00:49.610
It took him about five minutes to warm up

00:49.610 --> 00:50.933
to me and my children.

00:52.490 --> 00:55.293
It was like he had been
part of my life already.

00:56.670 --> 00:58.740
So I walked away, falling in love hard

01:00.630 --> 01:01.463
with him.

01:01.463 --> 01:02.310
I came home.

01:02.310 --> 01:05.607
I called him, Ivan, and I said,

01:05.607 --> 01:07.520
"So we're getting another placement."

01:07.520 --> 01:09.013
We had room for one more.

01:11.690 --> 01:13.130
And he's like, "Oh, that's good."

01:13.130 --> 01:14.980
I was like, "Yeah, it's a little boy.

01:15.940 --> 01:17.347
He's two."

01:18.430 --> 01:20.070
And he's like, "That's great."

01:20.070 --> 01:22.570
And I said, "But there's a catch.

01:22.570 --> 01:27.100
I already have met him
and so has our children,

01:27.100 --> 01:30.680
and if we take him, he won't leave us."

01:30.680 --> 01:33.569
(soft piano music)

01:33.569 --> 01:35.641
- We have been through the
foster process so many times

01:35.641 --> 01:38.020
and brought other placements in.

01:38.020 --> 01:40.830
So for me, it was run of the mill.

01:40.830 --> 01:42.940
It's, okay, the next child's coming in,

01:42.940 --> 01:45.430
we're gonna do the right
thing for this child.

01:45.430 --> 01:47.890
Whenever it's time for him or her to go,

01:47.890 --> 01:49.270
it's time to go,

01:49.270 --> 01:51.610
just like any other foster child.

01:51.610 --> 01:54.050
But, yeah, once she said,
"Hey, there's an opportunity

01:54.050 --> 01:59.050
that this child could be
adoptable, 99.9% adoptable,

01:59.270 --> 02:00.770
are you in or not?"

02:00.770 --> 02:04.340
And honestly, it didn't take me very long.

02:04.340 --> 02:06.050
We had talked about it already.

02:06.050 --> 02:07.467
We had prayed about it already

02:07.467 --> 02:09.440
and we thought now's the time.

02:09.440 --> 02:10.273
Let's pull the trigger.

02:10.273 --> 02:12.170
Let's see where this goes.

02:12.170 --> 02:15.520
And once we say yeah, we can't look back.

02:15.520 --> 02:17.290
And we haven't looked back since then.

02:17.290 --> 02:18.363
There's no reason to.

02:19.585 --> 02:22.002
(soft music)

02:26.780 --> 02:29.123
- Fostering brought us Titan.

02:30.890 --> 02:33.900
Because if we wouldn't have
got that first placement,

02:33.900 --> 02:38.013
we probably would've
never met our little man.

02:39.360 --> 02:42.370
And so, yeah, I feel like we'll
always be able to look back

02:43.210 --> 02:46.030
and know what journeys we took

02:46.030 --> 02:48.305
and what it led to.

02:48.305 --> 02:51.055
(people talking)

02:52.917 --> 02:54.480
- Yeah. Bring 'em all in.

02:54.480 --> 02:57.230
(people talking)

02:58.100 --> 03:01.607
- We're here now on the
day of finalization really.

03:01.607 --> 03:04.890
I'm really pleased that
there's a community out there

03:04.890 --> 03:07.970
for Titan, where there otherwise wasn't.

03:07.970 --> 03:10.045
So, I'm really, really happy about this.

03:10.045 --> 03:12.962
(soft piano music)

03:19.380 --> 03:21.510
The final thing that we have to do is

03:23.390 --> 03:27.000
dismiss the State out of this action,

03:27.000 --> 03:29.390
which I have just done, as well.

03:29.390 --> 03:30.933
So, Titan,

03:31.850 --> 03:32.960
you're a Bertke.

03:32.960 --> 03:34.189
Congratulations.

03:34.189 --> 03:37.189
(people applauding)

03:38.740 --> 03:41.157
(soft music)