A couple in Minnesota adopted six siblings after they had been taken into Child Protective Services (CPS) several years ago due to neglect.
Ruby Celada, 38, and her husband, Armando Ayala, 48, signed the adoption papers in Minnehaha County Courthouse late March. The happy moment was captured on camera—the six siblings, all smiles, pictured with their new mom and dad.
“They’re able to stay together,” Ruby told The Epoch Times. “They’re just happy that they found their forever home, they’re not going to have to go to different people’s houses and stay there for a while, and then they get attached and then they have to go to another home.”
The eldest, Alanna, is 12; Arturo just turned 9; Jerry and Aiden are 8; their younger brother Avery is 7; their little sister, Aniya, is 6.
When the siblings first entered the foster system, Ruby started keeping tabs on how they were doing and anticipated one day being their mom. “I love them just like if they were my own children,” she said. “Every time I see them and I have to leave, I cried.”
Due to a prior cancer, she is unable to have kids of her own.
Avery, who is autistic and has fetal alcohol syndrome, had been through a few foster homes, as his foster parents could not tend to his needs. “He went to Children’s Inn and the social worker called me because he couldn’t be there no longer,” Ruby said. “He’s the one who opened my doors for me to get all of them.”
He was able to move in right away. Next, Aniya joined the family in July 2020, when Ruby got her foster care license. Alanna and Arturo followed later that summer. Jerry and Aiden joined the bunch in May 2021.
Originally from Riverside, California, Ruby and Armando now live in Leota, Minnesota. Currently, the kids are all attending elementary school and doing well in class, Ruby said.
What’s next for the family? “We’re going to be traveling to California to do something fun for our adoption day that we had,” Ruby said. “I think Sea World or Disneyland.”
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