From Longing to Purpose
For Amy and Michael, family was always at the center of their dreams. After welcoming their three biological sons, Cade, Parker, and Dalton, they longed for a daughter to complete their lively household. With medical challenges making natural birth unlikely, the dream of adding to their family seemed uncertain.
Amy and Michael reached a turning point when a friend introduced them to fostering. They quickly learned of the urgent need for families willing to care for children with developmental disabilities and special needs. Adoption had been on their minds, but fostering offered the chance to help many children… not just one. In that moment, they knew fostering was where their hearts belonged.
Arms Wide Open
Eleven years later, Amy and Michael have opened their home to more than 20 children with special needs. Each child brings unique challenges like doctor’s appointments, therapies, and other daily hurdles, but more than that, they bring immeasurable joy.
“Once we started fostering special needs children, it opened up our hearts in a whole new way. These children bring a whole new type of love into our home,” Amy said. “A whole new and wonderfully pure type of love.”
The Mitchells realized the most rewarding part of fostering wasn’t the care they provided, but the love they received in return. Children who had endured trauma found stability and love under their roof. In turn, Amy and Michael grew more empathetic, patient, and resilient as advocates for their children.
“Being a foster parent means providing stability in the storm for a child in need,” Amy said. “It means providing structure and a loving home where a kid can feel safe and focus on being a child. As a parent, it means listening and understanding and being a shoulder to cry on. It means being a safe haven in an uncertain world.”
Grown by Love
Through fostering, Amy and Michael’s family grew in ways they never imagined. They adopted six children who completed their family in a unique way. They’ve welcomed Jaden, Madeline, Charlie, David, Jaylen, and Lailani, with another foster daughter on an adoption track.
“Ten [children] is a lot, but it’s a lot of fun and a lot of love,” Amy said.
A Legacy of Love
From a longing for a daughter to the creation of a family of 10, fostering changed the Mitchell family’s hearts.
“Our lives have forever been changed, for the better, because of fostering and adopting,” Amy said.
This true story is brought to you by The Mitchell Family. If you or someone you know is a foster family and are interested in sharing your story with us, please visit Tell Your Story.
Created by Keeley Lamm, Bananas Foster