The African-American toddler screamed when the caseworker tried to pick her up, but she happily sat on Armstrong’s lap and smiled.
Micayla didn’t talk at all to most people, but during their second meeting, she started communicating: “It was ‘Mommy’ and ‘Daddy’ from day one,” Armstrong says. “It was so fast.”
Armstrong and her husband, Terry, also African-American, decided to adopt from foster care after discovering they could not have a child biologically.
They met Micayla in April 2008, and her adoption was final in February 2009. Micayla, who turned 4 on Monday, bonded quickly with their two other children, Armstrong’s son, Jaiere, 7, and goddaughter Alexis, 14.
‘A perfect parent’
While blacks account for 15% of U.S. children, they make up 32% of the 510,000 kids in foster care, according to a May 2008 report by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, a private research group. The report is based on 2006 data, the latest available. It shows that black children in foster care, especially older ones, are less likely than white ones to be adopted.
Gallery Credit: USA TODAY
