It has been the wish of the Hill family to give their last name to their foster daughter, Lily. Last week, the East Texas family was given the go-ahead to do so at a Smith County court. They decided to foster Lily when she was just a toddler and they intended to foster her for just a short time as they sought to help their friends take care of a child. However, Lily became a part of the family along the way, and her stay with them increased to six years.
This month, Lily, who is now eight years old, has moved from foster to become a Hill. CBS reports that emotions filled the courtroom last Monday as the Hill family and Lily testified to the judge why she should be adopted into their family.
About 80 people from the Hill family’s community were in court to support them. “A lot of people know (our) story and they got to see God reign today,” adoptive father Nate Hill said to CBS, adding that it is rare to find interracial adoptions like theirs.
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“Only 2% of African American families adopt children who are not African American. Even on this journey, the Lord has used us to break down so many walls to cancel out so many stereotypes,” Nate Hill said. Even though Lily is white, the Hill family, who are Black, said love has no color. “She’s the baby girl,” adoptive mother Lakenya Hill noted. “She’s changed everything about me.”
Stories of interracial adoptions usually feature white families adopting Black children. So when Black parents adopt white children, authorities and the public feel there is something fishy going on. Four years ago, a Black North Carolina woman shared the ordeal she had to endure because of her adopted white son, especially when they were out.
“We get a lot of stares,” Keia Jones-Baldwin told TODAY Parents. “I’m frequently asked if I’m Princeton’s babysitter. … I get, ‘Why didn’t you let him stay with a family of his own race?’”
In the case of the Hill family, however, people in their community threw their weight behind them. Officials are even asking people to step up to adopt a child if they need to as there are about 88 children in foster care in East Texas who are available for adoption.
