Foster Parents Refuse To Separate Five Siblings, Ask For Adoption Papers

Dec 17, 2021 by apost team

Raising children is no easy feat, but it’s a task that Wil and Julie Rom were willing to take on. They had been fostering five young children, who were all related, for a couple of years. The Roms didn’t want the kids ever to be separated from each other, so they decided to take them all in and adopt all five of them in July 2017.

The Roms went from being known as the kids’ foster parents to their actual parents when they decided to adopt all of them and live together in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area. The children were of different ages, with the youngest being 2 years old and the oldest being 12 years old. All of them are either siblings or half-siblings, as they all have the same biological mother.

The children include 12-year-old William, 9-year-old Truth, 6-year-old Mariana, 3-year-old Keyora and 2-year-old KJ. The parents explained that there was no way they were going to split them up, so they knew they needed to fight to make sure they could keep all of them and fight to keep them together.

Wil and Julie took their case to the Hamilton County Probate Court to meet with Hamilton County Judge Ralph Winkler, a man who has continued to help other families stay together by approving the adoption papers. The Roms hoped that they would be able to adopt all five children. Read on to find out more about this heartwarming story of how one family’s determination to stay together brought them even closer than they were before.

“No way we were going to split them up,” Julie said, speaking with WKRC in July 2017. She and her husband did everything in their power to make sure they kept all five foster children together. “We can’t separate them, it’s about the kids,” Wil said. Now, the foster children are simply known as their own children following the adoption papers being filed successfully.

Wil and Julie took the children in as foster children before they decided to adopt all five of them at the same time. “There was never a second guess,” Wil explained. “It was a package, a package deal.”

Speaking to ABC News, Julie said, "They were our first within their family in February 2014 when they were just 6 and 9 years old. Then Marianna came to us in December 2015 and then KJ and Keyora came to us July 2016."

She added, "We've always said that when we had children come into our home, we would never have them uprooted another time. If the opportunity came along, that we would just keep them. It's extremely important that they do stay together because they've lost so much from their past."

Judge Ralph Winkler oversaw the case and approved of the adoption. “The kids would miss each other if we had to separate them and most of the time they do get separated, which is a sad thing for the children,” he said. “But these kids get to stay together forever.”

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Winkler also told ABC News, "I am excited and happy for the Rom family and their future together," and added, "They changed 5 siblings' lives forever by adopting them into a safe, loving and caring family. My greatest hope is that the Rom's 5 adoptions will encourage more and more good people to adopt children."

Friends, family members and a former teacher of the two oldest children were there to support the family and share the happy moment. Ann Boyle, a former teacher of the children, said, “I look at these two boys right now and they are alive right now. Their eyes are bright with wonder.”

Boyle was also "elated" to see how this adoption in the Rom family created a wonderful change in the kids. "Julie and Will had so much love in their hearts the moment they took them in," Ann said. "There was a 180. [The kids] were smiling, they were talkative. I knew it was the right path for them. [Julie] got them into church she got them active in sports. There was no sadness in their eyes anymore. She treated them as their natural kids and I saw that from day one."

Finally, the Roms and the five children were officially a united family. Not only did they get an upgrade in their family life, but in their home as well. Julie explained, “We went from a three-bedroom ranch to a five-bedroom two-story. But it’s for the kids. It’s best to keep them together.” What a beautifully happy and unified family. 

What did you think about this heartwarming story? How close are you with your family? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to your loved ones, too.