Claudette Lowery’s three biological children are grown and she has four grandchildren ages three to 10. However, being an empty nester just left her feeling empty. “I’ve always been a kid magnet,” Claudette says. “I’ve always had a special relationship with children. I’m the eleventh of 12 children. A big family is all I know.”
When one of her relatives became unable to care for her five children, Claudette became a kinship caregiver. “After about two years,” she says, “I was thinking about their future and I decided I wanted to make things more permanent for them.” Desiring to build a forever family, Claudette became their foster parent and is now in the process of adopting the five children, who range in age from two to 10. When asked why she decided to adopt young children at this point in her life, she admits she had a few second thoughts. “I thought, you can give them back. You’re done, you’re done. But I realized that the Lord has given me many gifts and being good with kids is one of them. This is something I can do and I want to do it.”
Claudette draws on her many years of experience raising her own biological children, but her foster children bring new challenges into her life. “Our children come from so many backgrounds and walks of life,” she says. “Some we’ve experienced, some we haven’t. But there’s always a solution. We just have to work through it.” For Claudette, the starting point is simple: “They need a parent to show them unconditional love.” She plans to attend Hillside’s Adoption Resource Network Annual Conference in November to learn new problem solving skills. “I’m always seeking something to help me out,” she says. “Now that we’re going through the process to terminate parental rights, I’m hoping to learn about working out relationships with their birth parents and how to get the services the kids need. Hillside offers so much, it’s unbelievable. They have so many supports out there.”
Claudette isn’t sure how long it will take to complete the adoption process for her five foster children, but she’s already looking ahead to the future. “I want to add some older children to my family,” she says. “These children have brought me so much. The hugs and kisses and hearing them say they love you, it’s wonderful. The thought of not having them around makes me cry. There are so many children seeking loving parents and homes. I want to give more of them a chance, to give them a loving family. There is happiness ever after. Not a fairy tale, real life, but it’s a happy life. These kids deserve it and I’m so willing to give it.”