CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Holidays are a time to spend with family and loved ones.
But some children are still waiting on their forever family.
Three children were adopted this past Friday in Corpus Christi.
We talked to them about how it feels to find their new family, just in time for the holidays.
This past year, more than 6.000 children were adopted in Texas with 68 of those finding their homes in Nueces County.
“I got adopted by my forever mom and dad,” adopted child Lena Drexler said. “And afterwards, we’re gonna go to Build a Bear."
Lena Drexler is one of the three most recent children to be adopted, and was reunited with her brother who had already been adopted by the same family.
"After a couple of times spending time with his sister, he said, 'can we keep her'? And we're like she's not a puppy, there's a process to this," their new mom Katherine Drexler said.
The process is not a scary or expensive one. Nueces County holds free meetings every month assessing whether foster care or adoption is best for the family.
"There's a lot of children out there, waiting for that forever family,” CPS adoption specialist Melissa Hernandez said.
Besides finding their forever child, parents have their own benefits with adoption, like help with attorney fees, Medicaid, even free college tuition for state of Texas schools. This all comes in handy for parents who might need some extra help.
"I'm 64, I work full time, I go to college, and I just found out I had cancer,” Rebecca Martinez Ramirez said.
Rebecca just adopted her fifth grandchild as her own. She wants to be an inspiration for some families who might be feeling moved to help a child in need.
"Even if you're a single person, or married, and you think, oh I don't got time for that, oh no, there's always time for love,” she said.
The number changes every day for children in Texas needing homes. But these three children will be with their parent or grandparents just in time for the holidays.
“This was her big wish, she wanted it done before Christmas,” Justin Drexler said.
If you're considering helping a child, Nueces County is now looking for parents who are willing to adopt or foster. Check out this websitefor more information.
