Dominic Smithers
Six siblings who were separated after being taken into foster care have all been adopted by the same couple.
Dustin and Daniel Johnson, who live in Tampa, Florida, tied the knot in 2020, and have always dreamt about starting their own family.
Even on their first date, Dustin said it was near enough a deal-breaker for him.
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And when they got married, Dustin and Daniel decided that it was time to do it, and they began looking into surrogacy and attending pre-adoption classes.
“We knew there were kids in our own backyard who needed a loving home,” Dustin told Today.
The couple said they were aware of the difficulties LGBTQ+ kids can have with coming out to their parents, with many ending up homeless as a result, so they were open to adopting older children and even siblings.
Dustin said: “Daniel and I are both close with our siblings and we knew how much it would hurt to be separated from them when we were growing up."
And in May last year, they ended up adopting six siblings: Reid, 11; Amiyah, 10; Izayah, 9; Kaelix, 7; Cade, 6; and Roslin, 3.
For the previous three years, they had all been separated, having been moved to five different foster carers.
One of the children, Dustin revealed, had lived in 25 homes during their time in the system.
At first, the couple said, they had a tough time adjusting to their new life.
Dustin said: “They never had enough food, so they’d just gorge.
"I’ll never forget the first time we had one of the kids over, and the kid sat there and ate, like, 12 hot dogs.
“When they first moved in, they were completely withdrawn and had major trust issues.
"It took months and months to build up that trust. Then the light started coming in."
Their eldest daughter, Amiyah, was perhaps the greatest concern in terms of how well she was settling in, Dustin said.
“You know, she was the one that clung the most to the idea that her mom might come back and save her," he said.
"I think it was hard for her to bond with us because in her head it meant she was betraying her mother.
“We were actually really terrified of what was going to happen. And then she did a complete 180 and was so happy and cried tears of joy.”
Now, all of their kids are really settled in and have bonded after being apart for so long.
“They’re almost co-dependent,” Dustin said. “We had the boys split up in two different rooms, and they came to us and asked if they could all be together.”