Originally published 2020-05-20.
KC and Lena Currie, a married couple from Massachusetts, set out to adopt one child and ended up adopting three brothers: Joey, Logan and Noah. Each time the adoption agency told them about another sibling who needed a home, they said yes, because they did not want the boys to grow up apart. Joey's adoption became final in March 2018, and the adoptions of his younger brothers were completed in November 2019, on National Adoption Day.
Their story, first reported by GO Magazine in December 2019, is a warm one. It also says a lot about how adoption from foster care works in the United States, why agencies try hard to keep brothers and sisters together, and what research shows about children raised by same-sex parents.
From one child to three brothers
The Curries married around 2013 and decided to build their family through adoption. In 2017 they met Joey, then a toddler, at an event run by Children's Friend, an adoption and family services agency in Worcester, Massachusetts. They brought him home as a foster-to-adopt placement, and his adoption was finalised in March 2018.
Not long after, the agency called again. Joey had a newborn brother, Noah, only six weeks old, who also needed a family. KC has said the couple agreed straight away.
About a month after Noah arrived, there was a third call. A middle brother, Logan, had been placed with a different foster family, but that placement had fallen through. Would the Curries take him too? Again, they did.
KC later explained the reasoning: "It was our gut-feeling. We were going to end up saying yes because keeping the brothers together was really important to us."
Why keeping siblings together matters
For children who have been removed from their birth families, brothers and sisters are often the only people who share their history. A sibling can remember the same home, the same parents and the same move into care. Child welfare professionals see that link as a source of stability, identity and comfort, especially later in life when adopted children start asking questions about where they came from.
US federal law recognises this. The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 strengthened the duty of states to make reasonable efforts to place siblings together, unless doing so would be unsafe or against a child's interests, and to keep separated siblings in contact.
In practice, it is hard. Large sibling groups need foster or adoptive parents with room, time and money for several children at once, and children often enter care at different moments, as happened with Joey, Noah and Logan. Some states even classify sibling groups as "special needs" adoptions, which can make families eligible for extra support.
That is why the agency's director of adoption and family services, Veronica Listerud, was so pleased with the outcome. "It's what you want to see happen," she said, praising the couple's flexibility and their understanding of how much the brothers' relationship would matter in the long run.
The first holiday as a permanent family
Finalising an adoption changes more than paperwork. Until then, children in foster-to-adopt placements live with some uncertainty, and parents know that a court or agency decision could still change things. Once the judge signs the order, the parents are the children's legal parents in every sense, with the same rights and responsibilities as any other parent.
For the Curries that moment came in November 2019, when Logan and Noah's adoptions were completed alongside many other families on National Adoption Day. The boys call KC "Mama" and Lena "Mommy." Speaking about that Christmas, Lena said: "It's the first year and first holiday where it's all permanent and true."
Same-sex parents and adoption
Massachusetts was the first US state to allow same-sex marriage, in 2004, and it has long allowed same-sex couples to adopt. Nationally the picture changed more slowly. Mississippi's ban on adoption by same-sex couples was struck down by a federal judge in 2016, and with that ruling married same-sex couples could adopt jointly in every state. In 2017 the US Supreme Court also ruled, in Pavan v. Smith, that both spouses in a same-sex marriage must be treated equally on birth certificates.
Research has been consistent. Major medical, psychological and social work organisations agree that children raised by lesbian and gay parents do as well emotionally, socially and academically as children raised by heterosexual parents. What predicts how children fare is the quality of parenting, family stability and economic security, not the parents' gender or sexual orientation.
Same-sex couples are also far more likely than other couples to adopt, and many adopt children from foster care, including older children and sibling groups who often wait longest for families. The Curries have said they hope their story encourages others to consider adoption regardless of what their own family looks like.
If you are thinking about adopting from foster care
Hundreds of thousands of children are in US foster care at any time; federal estimates counted about 343,000 in September 2023. Most return home to their families, but tens of thousands each year need adoptive parents. If the Curries' story has you wondering whether you could do the same, these are the usual first steps:
- Contact your state child welfare agency or a licensed local agency. Most hold free information sessions where you can ask questions without committing to anything.
- Expect training and a home study. Prospective parents take classes on trauma, attachment and the needs of children in care, and a social worker visits the home and checks backgrounds.
- Be open about what you can manage. Saying yes to a sibling group, an older child or a child with extra needs makes a huge difference, but agencies want honest answers so placements last.
- Ask about support. Many children adopted from foster care qualify for adoption assistance, medical coverage and post-adoption services.
- Consider fostering first. Foster-to-adopt placements, like Joey's, let families and children get to know each other before an adoption is final.
A family that grew by saying yes
The Curries did not plan on three boys under four. They planned on one child and stayed open when circumstances changed. As the brothers grow up, they will have each other to lean on when questions about their early lives come up, which was exactly the point of saying yes each time the phone rang.
The couple's story also deserves privacy as the boys grow. The details shared in 2019 came from the family and their agency; the rest of their lives belongs to them.
Sources: GO Magazine, "Lesbian Couple Adopts 3 Brothers Under Age 4 So They Can Grow Up Together" (Kim Wong-Shing, December 2019); Wikipedia: Foster care in the United States; Wikipedia: LGBTQ adoption in the United States.
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