A Florida mom told Good Morning America (GMA) that she felt fortunate to be a single parent to charming and loving kids. In 2015, Melissa Servetz became a foster mom, and since then, she's fostered 56 children; most are babies and young children ages below five. The last four kids she fostered later became the four children she adopted.
The former teacher also worked in social services for the last five years but soon realized she wanted to be a mom. She was single then and thought, why not try to help children who don't have a safe place to call home? She originally started volunteering at one of the kids' homes, which eventually led her to inquire about adopting and actually fostering first.
Melissa happily noted that she would do this all over again if she could, as the rewards and benefits outweigh everything. The Florida mom is a mother to Jade, 8; Destiny, 6; Matthew, 4; and Emerson, 2. The happy mother said that her four kids all have a bright future ahead of them.
A happy and contented mother of four
The mom of four said that she's beyond happy with her four kids. She described Jade, the oldest daughter she adopted in 2017, as intelligent, witty, and outgoing. Destiny, on the other hand, is silly, lighthearted, loves to joke around, and the one who adores her baby brothers so much. Of her youngest two kids, Matthew is the happiest child you will ever meet in your life. The 4-year-old boy was born happy, and Melissa had him since he was three days old. He is fond of dinosaurs, trucks, and Paw Patrol.
Emerson, the youngest, is cheerful and ticklish. Servetz described him as the active one who wants to have a lot of fun.
The foster mom remembered the first time she met Jade six years ago. She was teaching in the Tampa Bay area, but suddenly one of her students came up to her and said she knew a woman who had some children. They were living with a non-relative and needed a place to go because they were being evicted. Servetz said there was a proper process for taking children, so she immediately called her agency upon knowing the story and asked them if the two children were on the list.
The agency Servetz was working with confirmed the kids were fostered, so she quickly agreed to care for them.
According to Adoption Network, one out of 25 U.S. families with children have adopted children, and half have biological and adopted children.
Adoption and fostering is a process, says the mom
The mom who fostered and later adopted kids said that experiences are not without their fair share of ups and downs. She revealed that her children need to go to therapy regularly due to the trauma they have experienced in their young lives, making fostering and adoption both a process.
The Florida mom said she's beyond happy helping children as she thinks she's helping kids when they need her the most. She encourages others interested in looking into fostering and adopting if they consider either path to parenthood. She also added that online communities have helped support her along the way, excluding her parents and friends.
Approximately 135,000 children are adopted in the United States annually, with 59 percent coming from the foster system and 15 percent voluntarily relinquished American babies, per Archive POV.
