Dozens of children adopted in mass ceremony

  

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Dozens of children who ended up in foster care now have permanent families after a mass adoption ceremony.

About 70 children, from babies to teenagers, were adopted Friday at Harris County Juvenile Court. Many of the children are groups of siblings and were adopted by family members.

One woman who has three daughters of her own went on to adopt her sister's three girls. Two grandparents also adopted their own grandchildren.

"Just in time for Thanksgiving what a greater gift to have -- for Thanksgiving, for Christmas, for New Years -- a gift that will be 365 days every day each year of joy," Josephine Franklin Keys, who adopted her three grandchildren, said.

"We've been looking forward to this for the past 19 months," said Ann Marie Walsh, who adopted Aidan. "Aidan has been a part of the family since he's 10 months old and now it's going to be official."

Jessi Gonzales, who adopted her three nieces, said, "It's a good thing that I get to keep my nieces and not have them go to foster care and be able to adopt them ourselves."

Child Protective Services say there are still more than 1,700 children in the greater Houston area in CPS care waiting to be adopted.

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