BROCKTON, MASS. (WHDH) - The Reids have been counting down the moments until they officially became a family of four.
Jay and his wife Heather finalized their adoption of siblings 4-year-old Maria and 2-year-old Will Friday during National Adoption Day.
“We have wanted children since the very beginning and we had some struggles along the way, and by the grace of God and family and angels on earth, our family is complete today,” Heather Reid said with tears welling up in her eyes.
With their signatures and a decree, the 827 day wait was over for the Reids.
Heather Reid says there was never a question of where the siblings belonged.
“From the moment they walked in our house, they were ours,” she said. “From the moment we laid eyes on them, they were ours.”
The Reids were one of 33 families adopting 37 children at the Brockton courthouse.
The courts made Friday special for every child, including Samantha who now has three older siblings.
“She’s 100 percent ours,” Samantha’s adoptive mother Amanda Joyce beamed. “There’s no question of her going anywhere else.”
And Michael, who had some help making his adoption official from big sister Violet.
“In one sense, he’s always been a part of our family so it’s kinda a formality,” his adoptive mother Allison Palmucci said, “but it’s just so exciting.”
These families recognized that they don’t need to know the beginning of the child’s story to change the ending.
“What do we become today?” Jay Reid asked his adoptive daughter.
“A family,” she said with a big smile on her face.
Brockton was one of five courthouses across Massachusetts participating in National Adoption Day, where 130 children found their forever home Friday.
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