After meeting Cassie and Bradley Kissinger at an adoption connection event for a non-profit in Arkansas last year, Luke immediately felt at home with the family who would soon become his.
Cassie explained,
We started playing games at the event and those events can be a little awkward but it was actually not at all with [Luke]. I just kind of jumped in and started helping him with things and we walked around and we talked a lot. We got lunch together. So all the awkwardness went away really quickly.
This month they finalized the 11-year-old's adoption, but Luke had one special request. He told GMA,
I told my attorney that it would be really necessary for my class to see my adoption. So I was really excited about just having my class be part of where I'm heading next, you know?
The attorney, judge, and school agreed. The adoption proceedings were live-streamed for the kids in Luke's 4th-grade class at Brookland Middle School in Brookland, Arkansas.
The Kissingers were already parents to a 14-year-old daughter and another 11-year-old boy. And while the boys say they sometimes get on one another's nerves, as siblings all do, they are excited to officially become brothers.
Bradley Kissinger encouraged other families who are considering adopting from foster care, saying,
If you actually look at the statistics, the number of kids out there that just need some love is staggering. It's ridiculously high and I mean if you can be a part of changing even one of those kids' lives, go for it. Don't hold back.
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