Single Dad Adopts Child Who Was Abandoned Twice By Two Different Families
Parents and children who have experience in the foster care system know that it can be an emotional roller coaster of change and instability.
Fortunately, there are certain people out there who rise to the challenge every single day to ensure that children under state care are provided with loving homes and the chance at having a healthy family life.
Peter Has Been A Foster Parent For Four Years
Peter Mutabazi is one of those incredible people working to help children who end up in the foster care system.
Peter has been a foster parent for four years now, and recently became an adoptive father to one of the foster children who came to him in a unique situation.
He Was Asked To Take An 11-Year-Old Boy In For An Emergency Stay Over The Weekend
On January 6, 2018, Mutabazi was returning from a particularly emotional goodbye with his latest foster children, two siblings, when he received a phone call that would change his life.
On the other end of the phone, a foster care worker named Jessica Ward persuaded Mutabazi to take an 11-year-old boy in, but only for the weekend.
The Boy Was Supposed To Leave After Two Days
A young boy named Anthony (who goes by Tony) first arrived at Mutabazi's house at 3 a.m. with the social worker after a long drive.
Ward, Tony, and Mutabazi were all under the impression that Tony would leave in two day's time, but that didn't end up being the case.
Mutabazi Finally Asked How Tony Ended Up In The Foster Care System
When it came time for Tony to leave, Mutabazi finally worked up the courage to ask the social worker about Tony's backstory and how he ended up in the foster care system.
What he learned broke his heart.
The Boy Was Abandoned By His Biological Mother, And Then Again By His Adoptive Family
Tony was abandoned by his biological mother when he was 2 years old. He was then placed with a family "that served as elders in their church."
The family went on to adopt him at age 4, only to abandon him at a hospital nearly 10 years later with no explanation.
Tony Was Set To Move To A Group Home The Next Day
In a letter written for LoveWhatMatters.com, Mutabazi said, "I began to cry out of anger for what these people had done to this 11-year-old child."
He asked what Tony's future looked like and was told that due to the shortage of available foster homes in the state of Oklahoma, the child would be sent to live in a group home.
Mutabazi Refused To Let Tony Be "Cast Aside Again" And Invited Him To Stay
Mutabazi knew he couldn't let that happen, saying, "I refused to allow him to be cast aside again."
He told the social worker that she wouldn't ever have to "worry about where his food, shelter, or love was going to come from ever again."
Tony Was Formally Adopted Nearly Two Years Later
Tony never ended up leaving Mutabazi's house that day and by the following week, the boy was enrolled in a local school and starting to make new friends.
Almost two years later, on November 12, Peter Mutabazi finally got to share his last name with "the young man who is now officially [his] son" after Tony's adoption was finalized in time for his 13th birthday.
The Father And His Newly Adopted Son Have Fostered 11 More Children Over Three Years
Since taking in Tony, Mutabazi has fostered 11 more children over the course of three years, with Tony by his side helping the foster children adjust to their stay.
The proud adoptive father adds, "[Tony] has read more than 500 books in the last 19 months and has quickly made a number of amazing friends at church, school, and in the foster community."
Mutabazi Was A Runaway Child In Uganda Who Lived With A Foster Parent Figure
Mutabazi remembers how he was ready to "throw in the towel after fostering four children" but decided against it, driven by his own experience as a runaway child in Uganda.
After fleeing abuse at home, he was taken in by a parent figure who helped provide a better life for him, and Mutabazi grew up determined to do the same for underprivileged children.
The Father And Son Duo Are Proving Family Is More Than Blood
The newly adoptive father said that "making a split-second decision to foster a child who seemingly no one wanted" changed his life for the better.
He continues to advocate for healthy foster homes with the help of his son, Tony.
