+
Sign up for
The Upworthiest
Our top stories of the day delivered straight to your inbox.
upworthy

new mexico

Family

Young boy in adoption case makes incredible statement after judge asks for last words

His words at the end of the proceedings showed the true bond between mother and son.

via Pixabay

Boy's heartfelt words touch everyone in adoption hearing.

The adoption proceedings in the courtroom may have made Jennifer Hubby 5-year-old Cameron’s legal mother. But his words at the end of the proceedings showed the true bond between mother and son.

According to USA Today, at the end of an adoption hearing in Bernalillo, New Mexico, Judge Cheryl H. Johnston asked if anyone had any final words. Cameron shocked everyone when he spoke up. "I wanted to say that I love my mom so much and that’s she the best mom I ever had," the boy told the judge.

The boy's heartfelt words made Jennifer emotional so Cameron put his arms around her in a loving show of support. The touching moment was caught on camera by Milly Davies, Jennifer’s best friend who can be heard welling up as she films the magic moment.

It was the perfect encapsulation of what it means for mother and son to be united through adoption.

"I'll never forget it," Jennifer told Good Morning America. "The judge asked if we had anything to state for the record, and that's when we turned the camera on and I said a little something that was really not moving at all. I was just nervous and wanted to see the final decree and Cameron, I think he looked at me and he said, he whispered, 'Can I say something?'"

It was incredibly brave of the boy to speak up in such an intimidating setting for a child.

"He said, 'I love my mom so much.' And then I started to cry," Jennifer recalled. "You can see my head dip. And then he turned to me and held me … it was super emotional. And you can hear people tearing up, and you can hear the judge respond and she goes, 'Oh, my gosh,' and then she had her own little words of encouragement for Cameron."

"Well, you know what. It's important to tell people you love them and they care about you," Judge Johnston told Cameron. “And so you're a lucky guy. I'm glad you love them. That's what we're supposed to be doing. It's a good thing."

The moment was a long time coming for Jennifer who has been in the boy's life as his stepmother since he was born. She adopted Cameron because she wanted to be sure that she was his legal mom in case something happened to her wife, Cameron’s biological mother, Kim Hubby.

The family had to wait for Jennifer to adopt Cameron because adoptions are time-consuming and expensive. According to Child Welfare, the average domestic adoption in America can cost between $25,000 and $45,000. As of 2020, 117,470 children are waiting to be adopted in the U.S.

It took years for the Hubbys to plan the adoption and the process took six months.

Cameron's brave words in court and Jennifer's emotional reaction shows the true beauty of families being brought closer through adoption. One hopes that someday, the process will become easier and more affordable so more people can experience this joy.

From Your Site Articles
adoption

There's a wilderness summer camp for refugees that lets them just be kids.

Albuquerque, New Mexico, might seem like a random place for a refugee family to end up.

But things have gotten so bad in parts of the world — in war-torn Syria, in particular — that thousands of families are entering and spreading across hundreds of different cities in the U.S.

And while New Mexico might not be considered a premiere landing spot (most families end up in New York and California), it's definitely not a bad place to be. Just take a look:

[rebelmouse-image 19529568 dam="1" original_size="735x551" caption="Photo by Christiane Wilden/Good Free Photos." expand=1]Photo by Christiane Wilden/Good Free Photos.

One program in Albuquerque wants to use the area's stunning desert landscape to help refugee kids connect with their new home.

The New Mexico Wilderness Alliance is teaming up with the Catholic Charities Refugee Mentoring Program to take these brand-new New Mexicans out into the wild.

It's a summer camp for kids who are here to find a better life, and it's called the Refugee Wilderness Explorers Program.

All photos by the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, used with permission

"This was a way to connect them to experiences they had where they're from, and make them feel more at home," says Danielle Hernandez, the mentoring program coordinator.

She came up with the idea over a cup of coffee with Endion Schichtel, the Alliance's wilderness narrative coordinator, while the two were brainstorming ideas to keep the kids engaged during summer vacation — a time when they're the most disconnected from their peers and, often, feeling isolated in their new home.

Twice a week, Hernandez and Schichtel take groups of kids out into the wilderness to explore.

Many of them are completely new to America, fresh from places in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South America.

They hike the mountains, explore trails, and stop to identify plants and bugs. The kids are also encouraged to draw or write about the nature they encounter — a good exercise to help them connect with the landscape and practice their English at the same time.

For many of them, this is their first good look at the strange new place they call home.

"One time we were on top of the mountain looking out over the city," Schichtle recalls. "And the kids were [joking], 'I can see the ocean over there! I can see Colorado!' They know they're in America, and they're in New Mexico, but they have no idea where that is. When they first got here, this is not at all what they pictured America looking like. Seeing them have that realization is really special."

But beyond just developing a physical connection to their new home, wilderness camp gives these refugee kids a chance to be just that: kids.

"These kids are often the interpreters for their household; they're often the head of their household," Hernandez says. "They're the only one who knows how to use the bus or make change at the grocery store. They have to interpret medical information for their parents who are often in poor health."

It's a lot for any young person, especially one who's been through what some of these kids have.

So whether you believe in a spiritual connection with nature or not, maybe a chance to play with bugs and goof around with new friends is exactly what these kids need.

"They're just kids," Hernandez says. "And every child needs a childhood."

More

Programs for young fathers are lacking. So one man made his own. And now it's thriving.

True
Dignity Health 2017

When Barry McIntosh used to give presentations about young fathers, he'd open with a straightforward question: "Are moms important?"

The response is pretty obvious. "What a stupid question to ask! Of course they’re important!" McIntosh says with a chuckle. So he follows up with another. "But, you know, are fathers important then? And the subtext of that is, well, maybe there’s a question around that."

Barry McIntosh (right) with bilingual case manager Gabriel Ortega. All images via Barry McIntosh, used with permission.

McIntosh is the founder and former director of the program Young Fathers of Santa Fe, which helps coach and support teen dads.

He's retired now and has turned over the directorship to his close friend and colleague Johnny Wilson but McIntosh still stays very much involved with the cause. "There are so many programs for mothers, and there’s very few programs for fathers," says McIntosh. "They want to be great dads, but they don’t know how."

He has a point. When it comes to teenage parents, most national programs do focus on the needs of the teen mother, often leaving young fathers overlooked. So when they want to play an active role in their kid's life, it can be hard for them to know how — and the long list of daddy duties can be intimidating and confusing.

That's why Young Fathers of Santa Fe provides guidance and assistance for every step a father might take — from helping obtain visitation rights to talking to their kid about the birds and the bees.

"We had a guy come in and he said: 'I've gotten a letter from the state that I owe child support. I didn’t even know I had a kid!'" McIntosh recalls. But they took a breath and came up with a plan of action to help him become the father his kid needed.

"Eventually, he was getting overnights and he was being part of his kid’s life as any other dad would be."

Gabriel Ortega (second from left) with three young fathers graduating from Capital High School.

"It could be getting a job, finding housing, could be raising the kid, taking the kid into child care, getting a good babysitter that you can trust," enumerates McIntosh. "We’re not necessarily gonna tell them what to do, but we’re gonna help them come up with solutions to their own problems."

Of course, the young moms are very much welcome to be part of the process. "They love it, but there’s usually a little trepidation at first," says McIntosh. "They think it’s a bunch of guys talking about their girlfriends." On the contrary, it's a bunch of guys talking about how they want to build a family.

Young Fathers of Santa Fe also does a lot of work around reducing teen pregnancy through their other program, the Future Men Project.

"It's working with seventh- and eighth-graders, sometimes sixth-graders," adds McIntosh. "Trying to help them realize what it means to be a man and a responsible man, so that when they’re ready to become a father, this is a planned child."

Considering New Mexico has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the country, a program like this has the power to change a lot of lives.

Advisory board member Marcus Vigil and his son Marcus Jr.

"It's helped me out a bunch because I didn't know any information about being a father," says Marcus Vigil. Vigil is one of the young fathers in the program; he entered in 2010 and is now on the advisory board, helping educate other young fathers on the responsibilities of parenthood and how to prevent early pregnancies.

Vigil's advice to other would-be fathers? "Don’t be scared. Don’t get afraid," he says. "Just work at being a father because you can do it and it could be the best thing that could happen in your life."

When these young fathers start paying it forward and mentoring the future generation, that's when you know the program has done something special.

"I continue to go back, and I stay engaged," says Vigil. "Just try to participate so that I can make a difference in someone else's life."

"This is the exceptionally cool part," adds McIntosh. In fact, one of the young fathers he worked with, Richard "Vivo" Cornejo, started his own program in Texas focusing on the same cause.

Richard "Vivo" Cornejo (left) snapping a selfie with his son.

Truly amazing things can happen now that these men know they have the support they need to be the best dads they can be. "There is always somebody that will help, that wants you to be a great dad," says McIntosh.

"If you want to be a great dad, you can do it. You may have to do it yourself, but you don’t have to do it alone."

Trending Stories