‘So much joy’: Forever families celebrate National Adoption Day in Boston

As 2-year-old Kinslee waited inside Boston Juvenile Court to hear her name called, she rolled around on the ground and ran up a flight of stairs until her soon-to-be mother picked her up.

Excitement flowed throughout the courthouse on National Adoption Day, with little Kinslee, decked out in a plaid red dress, white stockings and black shoes, as evidence.

With the strike of the gavel, Kinslee officially became part of the Roper family, from Quincy. And though she looked a bit tired after the grand court appearance, her smile still shined.

“My heart is bursting,” Kinslee’s mother Jodie Roper, told the Herald. “We are forever family now. We are a party of four. She has made our family complete, and our family has expanded because of her. We just have so much joy. I am overwhelmed with emotion right now.”

Roper and her husband Michael started the journey to adopting Kinslee, who will be turning 3 on Nov. 28, more than two years ago. Foster children that the couple has had in the past have been reunified, but when Kinslee came around they knew she was “special,” one they wanted to adopt.

Kinslee joined 21 other children and teens to unite with their forever families in Boston, with 116 adoptions in total being legalized across the Bay State on Friday.

Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange saw a 30% decrease in adoptions in 2020 and 2021, said Bridget Chiaruttini, the adoption agency’s executive director. While the agency has seen a slight uptick in the past two years, there’s still more work to be done to ensure all children in the state have their permanent home, she said.

Roughly 2,460 children are waiting to be adopted in Massachusetts, with hundreds at risk of aging out of foster care without a permanent family, according to the agency.

Friday marked the 21st National Adoption Day celebration in Massachusetts, a tradition dating back to November 2002 when the Department of Children and Families, MARE and the courts joined efforts to raise awareness about the need for adoptive families.

“While there is so much joy in this room, so much to be celebrated,” Chiaruttini said, “there are also always kernels of loss involved in adoption. It’s also important to recognize and honor that experience as just as valid as all of the celebrations today.”

Travis Lee, of Dorchester, called it a “beautiful” and “special” day before he and his wife Katie saw their daughter Mimi join his large, glowing family.

“She brings the energy, a spark and a laugh that we don’t have without her,” he said of Mimi. His wife Katie chimed in, “She is one of the most courageous, resilient young people we know. We are very proud of her.”

Mimi, 14, a freshman in high school, had lived with the family for nearly the past seven years before the adoption became legalized. Inside the courtroom, Wally the Green Monster and extended family and friends joined in the celebration.

The coolest part of the day, Mimi said, was “not having to worry about where I’m going to be.”