Family adopts again in honor of National Adoption Day

PHOENIX – The National Adoption Day event in Maricopa County on Saturday should be the largest adoption day event in the United States, according to the Superior Court.

A total of 350 children have found and will officially become part of their forever families. Last year, 320 kids were adopted into permanent, loving homes.

Kevin and Dyan Gay will be participating in the event and their story is one that is almost as unbelievable as it is remarkable.

The couple has four children from a previous marriage. They’ve adopted seven from the Arizona foster care system and will officially become the parents of seven more lovely children.

“You’re not going to find anything else in life that can give you as many blessings as this does,” Dyan Gay said.

She said watching these children grow and change is amazing, considering many of them have had a very difficult start in life.

She does admit, however, there are challenges to raising so many children.

“You take a breath and remember just where they came from and far they’ve come. Without the adoption process, our lives would be so empty,” she added.

Meanwhile, Kevin Gay, said it’s his calling to give these children a loving and stable home.

“We pour as much love as we know how to into the lives of these kids. That love returns, the blessings come back tenfold,” he said.

Kathryn Pidgeon, co-chair of the Maricopa County National Adoption Day Foundation said in a press release, more children have entered Arizona’s foster care system in recent years.

“The number of foster children in Arizona has spiked over the last few years,” Pidgeon said. “Right now, there are more than 13,000 children in the foster care system in Arizona. “Of those children, 4,000 kids are eligible for adoption, waiting for homes.”