Brittany & Bo’s Journey to Adoption

Brittany and Bo met Leo in an incredibly vulnerable moment. He had just come out of surgery and was very fragile. Empathy and compassion for a little one in this state came naturally, but for Brittany and Bo, it felt like much more. As foster parents, they helped Leo recover, gain strength and grow. They provided the loving, nurturing care every kid deserves, and established a foundation of healthy connection to give him the best start possible. When reunification from foster care was no longer an option, they gladly adopted the little boy and look back to their first meeting as the beginning of their forever relationship.

But, their path to adoption began long before they met Leo. Brittany and Bo had casually discussed adoption, but they never took any steps toward pursuing the idea. Then, Brittany experienced a miscarriage in 2020. The loss was painful. While it affirmed their deep desire to be parents, the loss also made them wonder if they would need to consider different paths to parenthood, including adoption.

Brittany and Bo were encouraged to explore adoption, so they attended a Foster Care & Adoption Information Meeting. It was eye-opening and provided the motivation they needed to move forward.

Even though their conversation began with the goal of adopting, Brittany explained that, “We got into fostering just to foster.” They wanted to be parents, and fostering gave them first-hand experience while also ensuring children in their community had a safe, loving family. That experience turned out to be something greater than they ever imagined. Over the course of about five years, Brittany and Bo have fostered 12 children ranging from newborns to 11-year-olds.

The Realities of Foster Care

Leo joined Bo and Brittany’s family at a particularly busy time. They were already fostering two children who were in the process of reunifying with a relative. And, they weren’t done. They continued to foster, caring for five more children since they began caring for Leo. Despite the busyness in their home, they have always been intentional about connection with each child, and work hard to grow their bond every day.

They say the most rewarding aspect of fostering is witnessing transformation. Seeing how fragile some of the kids are when they enter foster care and witnessing the effects of abuse and neglect has been life-changing for Bo. For Brittany, a baby born at 29 weeks who spent two months in the NICU comes to mind. A difficult, premature birth, as well as early hospitalization and separation, are traumatic. With nurturing, attuned care, the couple has seen her progress in many ways. "Seeing her healthy; going from small and malnourished to healthy and able to grow and hold her head up—nothing is more rewarding than that. She’s a different baby,” Brittany said. The children’s progress is the encouragement they need to keep going. They know it’s vital for every child to develop safe and trusting relationships with caregivers, and these children they’ve grown to love are evidence that all of the effort is more than worth it.

Even so, the challenges of fostering are real. They note that foster parenting requires learning to work with everyone involved, not only the children. Foster parents must successfully partner with people who may have different views about life, culture, religion, parenting, and the world in general. "Not every approach works,” they noted. “You have to be flexible.”

Keeping reunification (the primary goal of foster care) at the forefront is also important. During the foster care placement of two siblings, they were led to believe adoption was almost guaranteed. Yet, the children’s grandmother was located, and they were reunified. Brittany remembers everyone crying the day the children left. The loss still stings, but knowing they are safe with family helps to ease the pain.

Finding the Right Support

Brittany and Bo were initially verified as foster parents with a different agency. They moved to a new home and then learned that their agency was closing. They quickly searched and tried to learn about agencies near their new home. They discovered Presbyterian Children's Homes and Services (PCHAS), and Bo said they were pleased to find everyone at PCHAS to be very welcoming, warm, and knowledgeable. “We were on a time crunch,” Bo recalls. They needed to get verified with a new agency within a short window of time so that the children they were fostering wouldn’t have to move.  

They say that the difference between the agencies was huge. "The support is there. You can trust people to be there for you," he emphasizes. "Foster care can be hard, but I know who I can call. [PCHAS has] shown up in multiple ways. Choose PCHAS because they will listen and you will feel valued."

A Call to Action

When people ask Brittany and Bo, "How do you do it? How do you find the time? How do you let go of the kids?" their answer is straightforward: "You just do it.” That sounds simple, but they always emphasize that anyone stepping into the child welfare space must do their research and really understand that the goal of foster care is reunification. Knowing what working toward reunification might entail and believing that it is in the children’s best interest, whenever possible, is critical.

Humility is also important, and Bo and Brittany are quick to clarify that foster parents aren't superhuman and they aren’t better than anyone else. Simply put, as they came to understand this need in their community, they couldn’t look away. Bo and Brittany chose to step into hard situations for the sake of vulnerable children because they knew they could give them the safe and loving family they needed, for however long they needed it.

They are also quick to point out that there are meaningful ways for everyone to support foster and adoptive families. Bo and Brittany have experienced the power of community support firsthand, from PCHAS connecting them with respite caregivers to neighbors reaching out during difficult times.

As we celebrate National Adoption Month, it’s important we all remember that more than 2,000 Texas children are waiting to be matched with an adoptive family, and children enter the foster care system every day. Brittany and Bo said they hope that the focus on adoption and adoptive families draws attention to the need for everyone to get involved. Their message is clear: "We need all the hands we can get. Become a foster parent. Adopt. Be a respite caregiver. Support the foster and adoptive families you know."

To say that life has changed for Bo and Brittany is an understatement. They’ve made a lifelong impact on twelve children through foster care, one of whom they are still fostering. They adopted Leo and are overjoyed that he will be their son forever. They were also blessed with a healthy pregnancy and gave birth to Thiago, who is eighteen months old. Seeing their sons play together and love each other as brothers has been their greatest joy.

Bo and Brittany’s journey from that first sight of Leo coming out of surgery to finalizing his adoption two years later proves that the family you create chooses you, just as much as you choose them. Brittany and Bo chose to step into the lives of kids in foster care. Today, they have a beautiful family, a fulfilling way to serve their community, and a desire to advocate for every child needing a safe, loving family.

You Can Make a Difference in the Lives of Children in Foster Care

Connect with a PCHAS Foster Care & Adoption Guide to learn how.