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

15 years ago, Andi Bonura was told she wouldn't be able to have any more children. Now she has eight.

via Andi Bonura

15 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, 15, 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."


This article originally appeared on 7.14.20

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Joy

Daughter uses DNA test to reunite her mom with family after 65 years

Their reunion was nothing short of a miracle.

@marysmoving/TikTok

Such a sweet story

Families might get displaced for a number of reasons. But luckily, advancements in technology make it more possible for those separated from their loved ones to find them once again and reclaim a sense of peace.

Good Morning America first shared the story of Mary Butler, who (with the help of DNA testing through My Heritage) was able to reunite her mother Bobbi Gambrell with siblings she had lost contact with 65 years ago, after being placed for adoption as a child.

In a tearful TikTok video, Butler shared how finding out that she had aunties, uncles and cousins was a “prayer being answered.”

The discovery was an equally emotional one for Gambrell, who was at a loss for words during a video phone call with Randalph, the baby brother she had never really known.

@marysmoving literally found my people #ancestry#myheritage #23andme ♬ original sound - marysmoving

“I can’t right now, baby,” she says in the clip, tears streaming down her face. “It’s just too much.”

My Heritage even set up an in-person family reunion. It was made instantly clear that even though they might have never met, they were clearly a family, especially when it came to their shared love of dancing.

@marysmoving big shout out to #myheritage for making this happen. our time together went by so quickly. we planned for our official family reunion for July 2024! #family #reunited#reunion#adopted ♬ original sound - marysmoving

“Family is important. It gives you a sense of belonging,” Butler reflected with GMA. “It gives you a sense of identity.” This is something that’s become even more important to her as she has begun growing a family of her own.

Watch the full story below:

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Education

Money blogger shares how she paid off $34,000 in debt by embracing 'no spend' months

She paid it off now to enjoy herself later.

via Pixabay/Pexels and TheSavvySagittarius/TikTok

The No Spend Month calendar

Elyse Lyons, a 28-year-old from Nebraska, is a money blogger and budgeting whiz who conquered a whopping $34,000 in debt over two years by having “no-spend months.” During no-spend months, the goal is to spend as little money as possible each day.

“When I was 22, I was in $34,000 worth of debt because I had student loans, car payments, and some credit cards,” she told Good Morning America. “And I knew that if I wanted to enjoy my life a little bit more, I had to pay it off.”

That’s when she devised her no-spend month strategy.

If you’re looking to save money like Lyons, she recommends buying a calendar and jotting down the few days you might need to part with some cash, such as buying gas for your car or going food shopping. The calendar is also a way to track and celebrate your money-saving wins. It's a fun, visual reminder of your journey to financial freedom.

She also recommends making a list of things you didn’t buy, and if you keep returning to that item, find a way to put it in the next month’s budget. The entire process is all about being intentional and conscious about your spending habits.

“The goal is not to create shame around spending. It's to see who you are at your core and what your actual spending habits are about,” Lyons said. She also said the goal shouldn’t be to restrict yourself to spending $0 daily.

“Extreme deprivation is not going to work for your budget for long,” she added.

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Identity

Everyone loves this dad's genuine, heartfelt response to learning his daughter has a girlfriend

If only every dad could be this open.

via ilovemygf1ffffffffffff/TikTok

Connie Kingston come out to her father, Michael, over the phone.

A video posted to TikTok by Connie Kingston has received over 8.8 million views in just four days for the wholesome way that her father responds to her coming out of the closet. The big moment seems to come out of nowhere, and her father doesn’t even miss a beat.

In the video, Connie is lying down and talking to her father, Michael Kingston, about dinner plans when she coyly slips in some information about her “friend,” Daya.

Daya and Connie live in North Carolina and have been dating since November 2022.

Here’s how the conversation went:

Connie: Oh yeah, Daya's not my friend.

Dad: Why do you say that?

Connie: She's my girlfriend.

Dad: Oh, that's cool. I really like Daya.

Connie: Really?

Dad: Yeah, of course.

Connie: I like her too.

Dad: She's wonderful. Yeah. So are you.

The father then explains why he is accepting of her lifestyle and supportive of her relationship.

“Connie, I love you so much,” her dad says over the phone. “There's nothing you can do that would make me not love you. And there's nothing wrong with that lifestyle. I perfectly agree with that lifestyle. So some of my good friends in college had different lifestyles than me. I love you.”

Michael doesn’t just tell her he supports her but shares why he feels that way, so she’s even more confident about coming out to him.

@ilovemygf1ffffffffffff

Crying watching this . I lobe you dad My cry was so ugly lol #fyp #foryoupage #lgbt #lesbians #comingout

The video attracted countless comments from people touched by the genuine, heartfelt interaction between father and daughter.

"Does your dad need extra children? Cuz we allll need a dad like that!" Tristann Whittaker wrote.

"When his voice shakes when asking if you were worried about that tore me up, he loves and cares about you so much you are lucky girl," Deactive added.

The father and daughter appeared on Good Morning America to discuss their relationship.

Unfortunately, Daya's family wasn't as supportive of her relationship as Connie's father. "They weren't exactly as accepting as I wish that they would have been. And it was kind of a letdown for me," she told Good Morning America. Daya's parents’ reaction inspired Connie to tell her parents about their relationship because Daya needed the support.

Michael was concerned that Connie didn’t think he’d be as supportive as he was. "Did she think that I was going to react in a negative way?" he wondered.

"I’m surprised and a little sad because I hope that would be everybody's responsibility,” Michael told Good Morning America. “You know, when someone you love finds someone they really care about in this world and that person cares about them, then why wouldn't that bring everybody joy?"

It’s 2023, and just as Michael says, everyone should be accepting of their LGBTQ child. But his reaction is remarkable because of the tender way that he shows his total support for Connie and Daya’s relationship. His response is an excellent lesson to parents everywhere on how to give full support to an LGBTQ child.

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