5-Year-Old Girl Officially Adopted After Spending Nearly 2,000 Days in Foster Care

Dreams really do come true!

Especially in the case of a little girl in New York celebrating being officially adopted by her foster family — after a whopping 1,954 days!

Now five years old, little Cece first arrived at Cindy and Jeffrey Moore’s home in the village of Depew, east of Buffalo, New York, when she was just two months old.

"We were just supposed to be an overnight stay until they found [her] a long-term place," Cindy Moore told Good Morning America.

"Once we saw her cute little face, we jokingly told them, 'If you need a place long term, let us know,'" Cindy Moore recollected. "The next day they said, 'You know, if you're serious about it, we could really use a long-term placement for her.' And here we are over five years later, and that long-term placement has now become a forever home for her."

Cindy Moore explained to WKBW-TV what a rollercoaster the adoption process can be.

“In the five years she has been with us, we’ve always known there is the potential of her to be going home,” she said. “So, there are ups and downs cause you do get emotionally attached to kids, especially little cute ones like this.”

Cindy and Jeff Moore officially adopted five-year-old Cece on May 11^th, 2023.

The Moores began fostering in 2015 after exploring the foster parent process following a battle with infertility.

"Friends of ours had some children that they had fostered and then they were in the process of adopting some of them. So, we picked their brain a little bit, got a little bit of information about how the foster system worked and what their experiences were, and then they sent us information to the agency that we work through - Child and Family Services," Cindy Moore described. "That's how we ended up getting certified through them."

The Chief Development Officer of the agency, Mary Czopp, says there are currently 60 certified foster parents in Erie County, where the Moore’s are located, but there are 300 children on the waitlist for a foster, or a forever, home.

“Children need safety and that’s what we hope to provide through foster care,” says Czopp. “Through adoption, or unification through a biological parent where we work with the home, foster home, and biological parents.”

The couple has welcomed over 30 foster children into their home over the past eight years and were absolutely delighted that the adoption of Cece was ultimately possible after such a long foster period.

"It's really, really gratifying for us. We're very excited about it. Every time we take a child in our house, you never really know how it's going to pan out long term by the time you start," Jeffrey Moore explained. "We had very high hopes in the beginning that we would get to keep Cece long term and be able to adopt her into our family, and we're ecstatic that it finally, finally got to that point."

In addition to Cece, the Moores have adopted two other children through foster care and are in the process of adopting another.

"The same day that Cece was actually adopted, we found out that her half-brother that we've been fostering has been freed for adoption. So, we'll be starting the adoption process with him as well," Cindy Moore exclaimed.

The couple strongly encourages others to consider becoming foster parents and having the opportunity to change children’s lives for the better.

“I always tell people you take a chance you’d be surprised you know how rewarding it is for both of you and the children in the house,” Jeffrey Moore stated.

"People's first response is always, 'I could never give them back.' And my response to them is always, 'Well, they're not yours. You're assisting and you're just helping take care of them while they're in a time of need,'" Cindy Moore explained. "Something that I think that people need to go into foster care knowing is that the primary goal is always reunification with the family. And if that doesn't happen, then you can go down the adoption route."

"For us, we're very blessed and we're very happy that for us, it ended that way. But we have had children that have gone back home, and we feel very good about that as well because we have seen the growth in their family and we have seen that they're going to a nice, safe, good place," she added.

If you would like to find out more about fostering a child in need, click here for the United States and here for Canada.

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