The sound of children laughing rang through the courtroom Wednesday in New Boston, Texas, as four families completed the adoption process in conjunction with Bowie County's National Adoption Day. Families smiled as each adoption was confirmed to the sound of applause from those in attendance.
Candice and Chris Hicks were excited when Judge Jeff Addison gave them the news their adoption of 17-year old Chance was complete. Chance came into their lives between five and six years ago. He was best friends with their son but Chance's home life was troubled. His biological mother had drug problem and because of that Chance ended up spending most of his time at the Hicks' house living with them unofficially.
Eventually the biological mother's parental rights were terminated and Candice and Chris began the long process of making Chance's adoption official.
"He's always been ours but now he's ours on paper," Candice said. "We absolutely cherish him. I can't believe I'm not crying hysterically right now. I just have so many emotions. The family feels whole. It feels perfect."
Chance was happy to have the process, which took about a year and a half, done.
"It feels great. It's been a really long process and I've had a lot of time to think about it. I'm super excited," said Chance, who chose to take Hicks as his last name and change his middle name to 'Jay' after his father Chris.
The day is an emotional one for the people who work to make adoptions happen.
Paige Formby is an adoption specialist with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
"Adoption day is the best day of all. You finally see all the hard work of all the different departments come together and culminate in a happy ending. And you finally see the kids in a loving family and permanent home they need," Formby said.
"It takes a lot of hard work to get to this point. Y'all see the happy ending but there is so much that goes into making it happen behind the scenes. It's a long process," she said.
Seeing more adoptions would be nice. In Bowie County alone at the end of October, there are 71 children in foster care, 29 children awaiting adoption and 70 kids taken into the system because of alleged abuse or neglect.
Darla Dike, a volunteer with the Bowie County Child Welfare Board, attended the adoption event. The board provides support to Child Protective Services workers to help make sure needs are met.
"It's finally a happy moment," Dike said. "It's a light in a dark cloud."