Teen Finds Forever Home After 10 Years In Foster Care

• Seventeen-year-old Akyra has been in the foster system for 10 years and has stayed in 24 homes.
• After staying on long-term placement with Katie Holstein, she was officially adopted by Holstein after a year.
• Akyra and a 1-year-old baby boy were adopted together by Holstein.

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Keeping your spirits afloat and continuing to hope in spite of 24 different placements and over 3,739 days in the system, can be emotionally draining.  It can rip your heart in different places.

But for Katie Holstein of Kentucky, that is what she admires most with her 17-year-old newly-adopted teenage daughter, Akyra.

Katie says, “The thing I love about her most is how resilient she is. Even though she’s been in foster care for so long only to be disappointed, she took a chance on me and my family and let herself be loved again.”

And even if she had not thought of being a parent to a teenager when she started fostering in 2017, Katie adds that Akyra has left a handprint on her heart by fitting in so well with her other fosters of four young boys the first time she stayed with them in 2019.

Katie said, “She got along really well with the kids, which, considering how many I had in that tiny little house, that was a big deal.”

At first Akyra was at the Holstein home on a long term-placement until she was officially adopted on September 25.

Akyra says, “It’s almost too good to be true. With all the other foster parents, I had to meet up to their expectations, and with Katie, I can just be myself.”

It also gave stability into her uncertain status.  She now has a mom plus a baby brother as Katie also adopted 1-year-old Thomas (or “Tiny”)!

Akyra is planning on taking up law enforcement in college after she graduates from high school this spring. No matter what she decides on, she is buoyed by her mom’s love and support.  Their perfect match also inspires Katie to foster more children including a teenager.

Hope really springs eternal.

Source: Inspire More