Seven Siblings Separated in Foster Care Get an Amazing Christmas Surprise

The children, aged seven to fourteen, had been in the foster care system for a long time. They hadn’t always been placed in good homes and in the past had been separated many times, but they’d always wanted to be together.

It wasn’t always that way for the siblings, though. Before 2019 they’d been separated many times, put into different homes, and didn’t see each other, sometimes for long periods of time. This had a profound effect on the children. One of the boys even confided to Angela that in his entire life, he’d never trusted anyone.

Who knows if the little boy believed Angela after all that he’d been through? Kids who have been through the foster care system can be full of doubts and fears. Angela and Elliott knew they had a tough road ahead to gain the siblings’ trust and assure them that they’d never be separated again.

As Elliott told AP News, “They came from an environment that they didn’t know where their next meal was coming from.” It was hard for the couple to imagine how hard life had been for these siblings, but that made the Turbevilles even more determined to give them a good life going forward.

They took training sessions for fostering certification and underwent extensive background checks. Finally, they were approved as foster parents and waited for the call from the program to ask if they were ready to accept children. One day they received a call asking if they’d foster four children from the same family.

The couple was excited that they were finally going to have kids in the house again. Angela even imagined these kids were destined to be with her since one of the brothers had the same birthday as her late mother-in-law.

They discussed the situation with the agency they’d been working with, Hope Foster Care. The organization and the Turbevilles decided that the siblings would meet up on Saturdays for a few months. That just wasn’t good enough for the Turbevilles, because they wanted to have all of the kids together in their home. Hope Foster Care was so pleased, and the decision was made.

But even this didn’t faze her. Angela decided to homeschool the siblings and set up her own one-room schoolhouse at home. She even assessed each child to see what kind of work was needed for each one. She didn’t want any of the kids to fall behind.

After a few months in theTrebeville’s home, the siblings started attending the local school. Soon, all were on the honor roll. They were thriving in their new foster home because they were happy and felt safe and cared for. One child, in particular, seemed to be excelling.

In fact, he got the highest grade on the test, and as a reward the school presented him with a gift card. Instead of buying something for himself with the card, he asked if he could spend it on Thanksgiving groceries for the family. “That was a big deal for him,” Angela said.

But in the end, they decided to give hope and love to children in the foster care system. They had plenty of love to go around, and loved raising and caring for kids. Once they took in the seven siblings, they knew they’d made the right decision.

The Turbevilles knew there were thousands of children in foster care just in their area. They’d heard stories of kids in foster homes feeling unhappy and ignored and were certain that they could make a difference in a child’s life by offering a happy and loving home.

“If we can carve out a little area and make them better, make us better as a result,” Elliott said, “and let them go out and make the world a better place as well…it’s just the general idea of doing something good instead of just sitting back and watching all the bad happen.”

“I always tell people, we had three, so what’s a few more, right?” Elliott told the Ledger-Enquirer. Elliott, who works for Pratt and Whitney as an associate director, is a logical and practical person. He added, “It’s just a number.”

She said, “Anyone we talk to says, ‘We don’t know how you can do this; this is crazy, you already have so much going on. So it’s always, ‘Why, how?'” Those questions only increased when the couple decided to move their commitment to the next level.

When the seven brothers and sister came outside, they found a giant sign reading, “It’s Adoption Day.” That’s when they realized what was happening – Elliott and Angela were formally adopting them, and they were going to be a real family.

In the two years they’d been living with the Turbevilles, the children had been asking the couple to adopt them. As soon as the couple heard that, they didn’t skip a beat before going to a lawyer to get the process started.

Elliott told them they were now heading to court for the formal proceedings. Angela explained to The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, “They’ve asked for two years, ‘I just want to stay. I just want to be adopted.'” Now it was time.

Angela told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, “She doesn’t know that Christmas is about to come early for her.” It’s hard to imagine the glee that these seven children felt after so many years trudging through the foster system. They finally had parents and a home.

Elliott and Angela had added to the celebration atmosphere by hiring a party bus to take everyone to the courthouse. The kids were ecstatic and excited. No one had ever treated them with such kindness and generosity.

Judge Gottfried was all smiles as she told the family, “This is just a really, really, happy, happy day. I’m so glad that all of you all are here to celebrate because this is really a celebration of a bad situation turning great.”

The Superior Court Judge told the kids, “This is going to be a wonderful holiday. Everything is official. You already were a family, let’s face it, but now you are legally a family.”

He added, “So I’m very thrilled to be able to sign off on all these.” His satisfaction knew no bounds after the hard legal preparation that preceded this day. Next, Caytlin Merritt, the Turbevilles’ caseworker, added her sentiments.

She continued, “That’s a huge commitment and sacrifice on their part, and they have just been all-in from day one… It’s just a joy and a pleasure to have been a witness to that and support them.” Merritt expressed what everyone in the courtroom was feeling – what the Turbevilles were doing was inspiring.

She explained that the foster agencies do everything they can to keep siblings with each other and out of group homes. But placement can be very complex.

One of the boys, aged 13, told the Ledger-Enquirer, “Coming right before Christmas, this is like the perfect time. I’m just amazed and excited because we’ve been waiting for this a long time.” He kept speaking, and his words showed wisdom beyond his years.

“This is really rare, he continued, “They took this chance getting all of us. I thank them — and I thank God — for this.” At 13 years old this boy has been through more than most of us have in a lifetime.

The boy said, “I don’t have to worry about my old life and stuff that happened to me. I get to have a better life now.” We are betting that there was not a dry eye in that courtroom during these speeches.

Elliott and Angela also reported moving the family into a new farmhouse. They needed more room for all seven kids so that they could hang out together but also have their privacy. That, along with the day-to-day management of seven children’s lives, has kept the happy family very busy.

The timing for this adoption had been perfect. Coming at Christmas was the ultimate gift for these seven siblings and their adoptive parents. As Elliott said, “It’s a Christmas to remember.” But while this story might be extraordinary, it’s not entirely unique. Many generous parents have adopted siblings and are living happily ever after, and we salute all of them.