‘We just think it’s a blessing:’ Area families adopt children on National Adoption Day

“We just think it’s a blessing that we’re able to do this and hopefully, more families are able to do this in the future,” Scott Warrick said.

Alexis Warrick said that deciding to adopt is a big decision, but one they wouldn’t change.

“The connection, the bond the blessings,” Alexis Warrick said. “Becoming a family. When we adopted Sawyer we had been married for ten years and tried for a long time to have our own children and we couldn’t. Then Sawyer came along, and he’s the best thing that ever happened to us.”

“It’s a scary process in the beginning but it’s definitely worth it,” she said. “And anybody wanting to create a family or add to their family should definitely do it.”

The Montgomery County Probate Court finalized more than 80 adoptions last year. Adoptions are usually a secret, but the families who adopted Friday elected to have an open hearing to help encourage others in the community to consider adopting.

There are more than 400,000 children in foster care in America, the probate court said, and in Montgomery County, there are about 200 children waiting for forever homes.

“The bedrock of society is the family,” Montgomery County Probate Judge David Brannon said. “Anytime you got something that goes wrong, whether it be drugs or ... some kind of a tragedy, someone needs to step in.

“With stability, you get an education, safety, a home, all that stuff that goes along with it,” the judge said.

David and Amy Dobson adopted 7-year-old Nevaeh Dobson Friday morning. Nevaeh is the fourth child the Dobson’s have adopted and is their seventh child overall. They have cared for Nevaeh for six years.

They said it was an incredible feeling to add Nevaeh to their family forever and that they began fostering children and later adopting after feeling a calling to do so.

“We strongly believe that strong families are an important foundation for our communities,” Amy Dobson said.

David Dobson said that others should also consider fostering and adopting children.

“A lot of people think that it’s something that they cannot do or that it would be hard,” he said. “It is hard and it is challenging, but it is also extremely rewarding and there are so many great benefits as well.”