CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- In honor of National Adoption Day, six local children will be spending Thanksgiving with their official families after Cook County judges finalized their adoptions Friday.
There were tears, hugs and some teddy bears inside courtroom 1706 in the Daley Center where Chief Judge Timothy Evans welcomed the families for final adoption hearings.
"It's the end of uncertainty for these families and it is the beginning of a bond- a seal that is forever," he said.
Acting presiding Judge Sanjay Tailer, who led the hearing, praised parents adopting children.
"There's no more selfless act than opening your home and harboring a foster child to adoption," he said.
Juanita Fuentes was one of two women who adopted her biological grandchildren. The Rosemont woman is raising the eight, seven and five- year olds with her other son and said it's such a relief to have them permanently after five years of waiting.
"We don't have to go to the state to ask permission to take a vacation -to go to certain doctors to get certain services for these kids," she said.
She said hearing them laugh and their excitement about school or weekend plans is worth all the work.
