BASTROP COUNTY, Texas — Every week on KVUE, we feature a different child in the Texas foster care system, in hopes of helping them get adopted by a forever family.
Lily, 3, was featured on Forever Families in March of this year. She and KVUE’s Hannah Rucker enjoyed a morning of fun at Chuck E. Cheese in Round Rock.
After Lily’s segment aired, a couple from another state saw her story, found her profile and proceeded with adopting her.
On Tuesday, her adoption was made official at the Bastrop County Courthouse. Lily’s new parents appeared on Zoom from out-of-state, holding her in their arms. Her new mom held back tears when she was asked if she was ready for Lily to legally become her new daughter.
Lily’s caseworker and her adoption specialist, Ashley Carnahan, spoke at the adoption ceremony about her growth.
“Lily is thriving in this home. She is no longer G-tube-dependent, she goes to school with other children. She is a daughter to this wonderful family, and I am so thankful their home study came across my desk,” Carnahan said.
Learn more about starting the adoption process in Texas.
KVUE launched the Forever Families segment with Partnerships for Children (PFC) in June 2020 to highlight children in the Heart Gallery of Central Texas who need secure and permanent families. Every day, there are nearly 1,000 children waiting to get adopted in Central Texas, according to PFC.
Editor’s note: The children who are in the Heart Gallery program and featured in KVUE’s Forever Families segments are children who have had every effort made on their behalf to connect them with family or others in their community to provide options for permanent, adoptive homes. Through no fault of their own, that hasn’t happened yet, and so in partnership with the Department of Family and Protective Services, we collaborate to bring awareness to KVUE viewers about these children in the hopes of finding them permanency before they age out.