Parenting is not that easy. Being a parent means responsibilities and a ton of work on your shoulder, which challenge you along your journey through parenthood. But it’s also a huge blessing.
Sadly, due to some unfortunate circumstances, not every couple is blessed with a biological child. But thankfully a legal process of adoption became a possible way to be a parent. It gives chance to couples, even to single individuals to adopt a child.
However, every adoption story is not beautiful- just like this one.
It is a heartbreaking story of an 11-year-old abandoned boy named Anthony.
Most of us think that adoption is permanent once the papers are signed, but as one unlucky boy learned in a very traumatic fashion, you can actually cancel your kid like a Netflix subscription.
Anthony may have thought when he was supposedly adopted at the age of four, that hopefully, he’d found his forever loving family.
Sadly, seven years later the family inexplicably took him to the hospital and just abandoned him like he was nothing to them. All of his hopes became a nightmare. He haven’t thought that after seven years of being together, his foster “parents” will throw out him like he was nothing to them.
And get this – their actions were totally legal!
“All the promises of a forever family were thrown out the window and this young boy was left alone, abandoned, frightened, and crushed emotionally.”
After droving him, his ex-parents never looked back to see what an awful thing they had done. It wasn’t the first time that they put up a “pretend parent” charade like this!
Anthony’s harrowing experience almost reads like a bleak, Brothers Grimm-style fairytale on Love What Matters:
“He didn’t know when or if they were ever coming back for him because he was not in on the plan they orchestrated to abandon their child. Most people could not conceive that a parent could do this to a child, yet this was not their first time. You see, they did the exact same thing to their other adopted son a couple of years before, sadly enough.”
One hero named Peter Mutabazi entered into Anthony’s life to help to rewrite his story!
When Peter first began his journey as a foster dad, he took good care of two brothers who changed his life. It also changed his understanding of how much a person could love another human being.
Sadly, after seven months family court decided to reunite those kids with their biological parents. Peter was not prepared for the unforeseen goodbyes. This was very painful and heartbreaking for him.
His endless hours of training just to become a licensed foster parent meant nothing at that moment. All the manuals that he read taught him nothing about how to deal with these kinds of breakups.
But because of his beautiful heart, he came to terms with it.
During the drive from the court, Peter realized that these kids would actually be with their real family and they will get to grow up with their birth family. Peter was filled with joy ignoring his own pain no matter how deeply it affected him.
This tragic experience made him refuse a request to foster then 11-year-old Anthony “just for the weekend.” The pain in his heart from what he was going through was still too fresh. After all, it had only been four days since he lost his foster children. He needed more time to grieve!
But his social worker had a way of swaying him with talk of “the right kid at the right time,” which meant that the bedroom Peter had set up for his foster children would not remain empty for long.
In fact, it was going to be permanently filled with love!
Peter was about to meet the boy who would start calling him ‘Dad’. And he had no idea about it at that time.
Peter comes to a small impoverished village near the border of Uganda and Rwanda. His childhood experiences were quite horrific. He grew up with an abusive father that made him think that he will create a better future for all the children out there who deserve more out of life.
So, when his real estate business in Oklahoma became successful. Peter decided to dedicate his life and fortune to the greater good by becoming a foster father.
He thought being a foster father would be very simple. He only has to look after the kids whose parents are unavailable to take care of them and to cater to their children’s needs. But then “just for the weekend” Anthony happened.
And that’s when Peter’s worldview was turned upside down!
“Never in my wildest dreams did I anticipate I would be parenting the child of two parents who had led lives that passed the extensive background check standards involved with parenting foster children, only just to abandon not one, but two of their children.”
In the beginning, Peter didn’t ask for details about Anthony to his social worker. He was afraid that if he will get to know the real story of why Anthony was in foster care that will affect him. He didn’t want to get too attached to the boy knowing that he was only there for the weekend, as agreed.
However, that was before Anthony straight up called him ‘Dad!’
“I told him he could call me ‘Mr. Peter’ and 20 minutes after his arrival, he asked if he could call me ‘Dad.’ What? I didn’t even know his last name, yet he was asking to call me ‘Dad.’ This was not typical, as most children in foster care initially want to remind you that you are not their father and ‘never will be.’ This child I had just met was not even presenting that argument.”
Anthony asked peter that can he call him dad? His immediate answer was “NO! NO! NO!” He said that calling him dad wasn’t necessary for he’s only staying with him for 48 hours, there was no need to start getting personal.
The day came for Anthony to say goodbye, and by that time Peter had built up the courage to ask his social worker about the boy’s backstory.
The heart-wrenching answer she gave was a punch to the gut. Peter didn’t even know that such a thing was possible – or even legal!
The social worker explained how this boy had been abandoned by his birth parents at the age of two. And then the next family who took care of him for almost ten years also dumped him at a hospital.
In the latter case, it was called a “failed adoption.” But in reality, it was just stone-cold cruelty!
“They signed an agreement relinquishing their parental rights and never looked back. I was completely shocked! I could not believe what I was hearing. I began to cry out of anger for what these people had done to this 11-year-old child.”
Peter knew that he couldn’t be yet another person in a long list of people to abandon this poor boy.
It looks like Anthony knew exactly what he was doing when he called Peter ‘Dad!’
“I refused to allow him to be cast aside again. Besides, he was already calling me ‘Dad.’ I asked the social worker to provide me with a placement letter so I could enroll him in school the following day. She asked me about 100 times if I was serious and we both cried tears of joy.”
Peter told the social worker that now Anthony would no longer have to worry about where his food, shelter, and love were going to come from.
Not only was he going to spoil this kid by letting him call him Dad, but a few months later Peter made it 100% official!
“It may come as a surprise when I say I needed my son more than he needed me.”
Peter adopted Anthony on November 12th and gave him a permanent last name.
“This is the blessing I am most thankful for in my life. It has been an amazing journey. I’m amazed at how resilient and positive he is, despite all that he has had to endure.”
