You can hear their footsteps traveling up the spiral staircase to the second floor of the Bartholomew County Courthouse.
For two years, Desi, 8, and Payten, 6, have called the Martins “family.”
On Wednesday morning, the two sisters eagerly awaited a court hearing that would change their young lives forever. At the sound of a gavel, the Martins would officially become Desi and Payten’s forever family.
Local judges opened their courtrooms Wednesday to families who have waited years for the moment to adopt a new family member. National Adoption Day aims to increase awareness about the value of adoption.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
A coalition of adoption and children’s advocates started the day in 2000 when they encouraged cities to open their courts on or around the Saturday before Thanksgiving to finalize and celebrate adoptions from foster care.
In Indiana, National Adoption Day is one of the few days when cameras are allowed in courtrooms, allowing families and the media to photograph the proceedings.
This year, approximately 302 children joined forever families across 30 Indiana counties. In Bartholomew County, six families participated in adoption day, all welcoming one or more new family members.
Desi and Payten are Laurie and Darrell Martin’s fifth and sixth adoptions, in addition to their four biological children. When their biological son, Drew, was 6 years old, he was interested in the idea of having a brother.
“At one point, we started talking about foster care and then maybe a brother could come along if it worked out right,” Laurie Martin said. “No absolutes. Drew was 6 and asked us to pray about giving him a brother. He’s got three brothers now through adoption.”
From that moment on, the Martins continued their foster and adoption journey, fostering about 30 kids and, as of Wednesday, having adopted six children.
“It’s the completion of our family,” Laurie Martin said. “It wasn’t our plan originally. We always talked about having two or four children. That was the decision, will we do two or four? Obviously another thing came along and our plans changed, and it’s now 10.”
Desi and Payten waited patiently in the front row of the juvenile courtroom as Bartholomew County Juvenile Magistrate Heather Mollo officially named the girls the daughters of Laurie and Darrell Martin. All 10 Martin children wore shirts with a bear reading “brother” or “sister” to celebrate the momentous occasion. Laurie and Darrell Martin wore the same shirts, only theirs read “mama” and “papa.”
“If I take very long and think about it, I’m going to become very emotional about it because of what this family has been, is and is about to become,” said Dominic Glover, the attorney representing the Martin family. “Words cannot adequately describe what they are doing and what this family is. I wouldn’t miss this if it were Christmas morning.”
‘Today’s the day’
Nine-year-old Carter Amburgui’s grin spanned from cheek to cheek. On Wednesday, Alan Amburgui finally was named as the father to Carter and his 11-year-old brother Zadyn.
“It’s exciting to me and Zadyn,” Carter said. “Today’s the day!”
Carter and Zadyn’s mother, Breanna, married Alan Amburgui in 2017 after having been in a relationship together for about six years, since Carter was 10 months old.
The family started the adoption paperwork in February, but the conversation about adopting the two boys dates back to five years earlier. In May 2018, Carter and Zadyn’s biological father agreed to sign off his parental rights, making it possible for Alan Amburgui to adopt the boys as his own.
“We’ve always been one family,” Breanna Amburgui said. “It’ll be nice for them to have the last name Amburgui. We’ve been waiting for this day for months, and it’s finally here. It’s surreal.”
Bartholomew Circuit Court Judge Kelly Benjamin granted the petition for adoption Wednesday morning, complete with a high-five from each boy. Carter and Zadyn were treated to free books, snacks, face-painting and could even adopt their own stuffed animal to commemorate the day.
Growing up, Alan Amburgui said he always wished his stepdad would have adopted him, but he never did.
“Now, I’ve got the chance to do it,” Alan Amburgui said.
A story to tell
When the Broaddus family took in 8-year-old Cyrus when he was 2, William Broaddus searched for a way to explain the situation to the youngster, who was his biological nephew.
As Cyrus would grow older, William Broaddus knew he’d be faced with questions that he wouldn’t know how to answer. So he turned Cyrus’ reality into a children’s story.
“Since he was little, I’ve shared a story with him about this lady who had a little baby boy who wasn’t able to care for him and she called her brother and asked her brother if he could take care of him and her brother said, ‘Sure, I will care for him, and I will love him, and he will be a part of our family,’” William Broaddus recalled as the story he told Cyrus before bedtime.
As years passed, the story would evolve with new details that were more relative to Cyrus’ situation. Cyrus began to pick up the pieces and realized that he was the little boy in the story.
“He started to realize and understand, ‘That really is me,’” William Broaddus said. “He started grinning and smiling, and I said, ‘Yeah, you know what Cyrus? That little boy is you.’ Over the course of several years, we would tell the story, and in his mind, he would always know.”
To Cyrus, William and Chrystal Broaddus are his mom and dad. Twelve-year-old Addison, 9-year-old Miles and 6-year-old Maddox are his sister and brothers. The Broaddus home is his home.
In explaining Wednesday’s adoption hearing to Cyrus, William Broaddus told his son that they would be his forever family. The court hearing was just a way to make it official.
“Finality. It’s basically just normalcy,” William Broaddus said. “Not having the Department of Child Services in and out of our house. It isolated him or set him apart as being different and not having a normal life like the rest of our children. That level of normalcy, where he can feel like he’s not different, that he is just the same as the rest of the children.”
For the last six years, William and Chrystal Broaddus said the hope had been for William’s sister, Cyrus’ biological mother, to be reunited with her son. When that didn’t happen, William Broaddus said he began to realize he could provide the boy the stability he deserved.
“I can provide him that future. I can provide him with the things he would otherwise not have,” William Broaddus said. “The love our family has for him, it’s been so long. This is awesome in a sense that it will bring that closure. This is just a formality, when we’ve been living that world and that reality for such a long time.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Where to learn more” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
To learn more about the Indiana Adoption Program, through the Indiana Department of Child Services in collaboration with the Children’s Bureau, visit childrenbureau.org or call for a brochure at 855-677-5437.
To view a list and photos of children who are available for adoption, visit adoptuskids.org/states/in/index.aspx
To begin to inquire about family preparation to adopt, email [email protected] or call 888-25-ADOPT.
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”About National Adoption Day” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Thirty-seven Indiana judges in trial courts around the state are celebrating National Adoption Day this year.
The day was created to increase awareness of the value of adoption. Agencies including the Department of Child Services, Court Appointed Special Advocates, the Children’s Bureau and local adoption agencies assist with the event.
An estimated 300 children statewide are being adopted through National Adoption Day this year.
In a one-time-a-year exception, the Indiana Supreme Court allows media to have cameras in the courtroom to photograph or video the adoption proceedings for uncontested adoptions.
[sc:pullout-text-end]
