Families welcome children in adoption celebration

The Meehan family will grow by one today.

A toddler boy will join parents Kyle E. and Kitty L. and an 11-year-old sister today when his adoption is made official during the 1 p.m. celebration at state Supreme Court in the Dulles State Office Building, 317 Washington St.

The Meehans, Watertown, have cared for the boy since they became his foster parents when he was a few months old. They had wanted to provide only temporary shelter for children in need, but Mr. Meehan said the idea of parting with the boy became so difficult that he and his wife decided to make the arrangements permanent.

"We had talked about fostering for some time and then we finally had the opportunity to take the class, and our thought process was, 'Do we have the room in the house?'" Mr. Meehan said. "As you find out when they come in your house and there's a need, and you just — you fall for them."

Mr. Meehan said the boy — who's just shy of 2 years old — was the first child he and he wife fostered. He now facilitates foster parent training for the Jefferson County Department of Social Services.

The Meehans are one of four families adopting a child today as part of the county's adoption celebration, a day before National Adoption Day.

Karen N. Mullin, Jefferson County Department of Social Services Adoption and Foster Home Finding Unit supervisor, said Jefferson County Family Court Judge Richard V. Hunt will officiate at the celebration and finalize the adoptions.

The ceremony will honor all 19 families who adopted 25 children this year, including the three boys under the age of 2 and a 12-year-old girl to be adopted today.

Each family will receive a certificate and bags full of gift certificates to local businesses. They also will get an "adoption candle," which they can take home and use to celebrate the adoption anniversary each year.

Mrs. Mullin said three other children will be adopted "in the very near future." Their paperwork wasn't ready in order for the adoptions to be finalized today.

Each adoptive parent has to go through a lengthy process before getting the OK to adopt a child. Mrs. Mullin said people can call her at 785-3337 for more information on adopting area children.

Meanwhile, Mr. Meehan said today's adoption celebration will continue throughout the weekend, when out-of-town family will meet the newest member and attend the child's baptism.

He said that after the adoption is finalized, he and his wife plan to continue to foster children.

"We just need to have a bigger home," he said.