It is a tragedy that so many teenagers spend years of their lives in foster care without ever getting the forever family they deserve.
According to the National Foster Youth Institute, more than 23,000 children in the United States leave the foster care system each year and many end up homeless.
Akyra feared becoming one of these tragic statistics after spending the equivalent of 10 years, or 3,739 days, in the foster care system.
The 17-year-old was living with 24 different foster families when she met Katie Holstein, a single mom from Kentucky who had fostered 16 kids since 2017.
“I started the process of becoming licensed as a foster parent in January of 2017. I wanted to be a mother and I was tired of waiting for Mr. Right to make it happen,” Katie told Love What Matters.
“I thought I would foster for several years, help reunite some families, and maybe eventually get to say yes to forever.”
Katie had never fostered a child older than 6 until she heard about Akyra in a call from her “favorite social worker” who had a special request.
“I know you don’t do teens, but I have this girl. She’s great, she and her current foster family just need a break. What about just for the weekend?”
Akyra, or Okra as Katie calls her, who was 16 at the time, ended up staying with Katie for a week and several other short breaks until her placement ended.
At the time, Katie had a full house with 5 foster kids all under 5, so she was not able to take on another full-time foster child.
But because Katie knew how important it was to have a home after graduating high school, she allowed Akyra to stay with her as many times as she could allow.
More than a year after they met, the young girl was brave enough to ask Katie a question. Akyra asked her how she felt about adopting a teen.
“I think that was an important moment for her because this decision came completely from her. After so many years of having no control over where she lived, she got a say in what she wanted.”
Just three days before Akyra turned 17, Katie finally adopted her.
The adoption ceremony was held via Zoom but it wasn’t just Akyra that was adopted by Katie that day, Katie also adopted Thomas, or Tiny, a 1-year-old whom Katie had looked after since he was 6 days old.
Katie feels so blessed that Akyra chose her to be her mom.
“Even though she was in foster care for so long and then disappointed, she took a chance on me and my family and let herself be loved again.
“She has a lot of her own life experiences and opinions and I respect that, I’m not a controlling mother. It was a learning curve for us both, and we’re still learning now, but it’s worth it.”
These two chose each other and their story is so beautiful. I hope it serves as an inspiration to others just how much love you are letting into your life when you choose to foster a child.
