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5 'amazing' siblings were living in separate foster care homes, so this family adopted them all

5 'amazing' siblings were living in separate foster care homes, so this family adopted them all
via Andi Bonura

Eleven years ago, Andi Bonura of Texas was told she wouldn't be able to have any more children, now she has eight.

Her and her husband, Thomas', oldest child Joey, 11, was born with a twin, Eli, but he passed away at just five months. Joey pulled through and has been living with cerebral palsy and visual impairment, but his mother told Good Morning America he's the "happiest kid in this house."

"When we lost Eli, we were told we couldn't have any more children, and we were devastated," Andi told CBS News. "And we actually started looking at adoption then, but for some amazing reason, we had two more daughters that were a complete shock."

The daughters, Sadie and Daphne are now 10 and eight.

The Bonura family now had three children but they didn't stop there. Knowing it would be risky to have any more biological children, they turned to fostering in 2017.

via Andi Bonura

"Then they told us to come pick up our now 2-year-old Bryson," who joined the family right out of the NICU. "We didn't think we would have him forever or anything. We were there to love him for now. But we found out he had siblings," she said.

Bryson has four siblings that had all been split up into different foster care homes. So Andi asked if she could foster some of the siblings, and was approved.

"We still weren't thinking we were going to have them forever. We were just happy they were together," she told CBS News.

Then, to the family's surprise, they learned that all five children would be put up for adoption because their parents terminated their rights as guardians.

"We had already been meeting with the twins, who are now 8, and we just loved them. They were constantly asking when they were going to move into our house," she said.

via Andi Bonura

In May, after two years of going through the adoption process, they were granted the adoption via a Zoom call with through the DePelchin Children's Center. Thomas, 8, Carter, 8, David, 6, Gabrielle, 4 and Bryson, 2 now had a forever family.

"The kids have been through a lot but they're the sweetest. They're amazing — and resilient," Andi said.

Being a parent to eight children is no easy task and Andi gives a lot of the credit to the support she receives from other foster parents.

"The only reason I made it through all of this is because of the other foster moms and the support we have for each other," she said. "Honestly, I'm nothing special. If anything, it's the other moms who encouraged me."

Andi says it feels like all eight siblings have been together their entire lives. "They love each other and they support each other and they look out for each other. They're so proud to be brothers and sisters."

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