Meet the Presswood Family!

I am a proud single dad of six spectacular boys—Edwin, 25; Lawrence, 22; Giovanni, 20; John, 18; Fabian, 16; and Angel, 15. By the time you read this, I will likely have added a seventh child to our family: 11-year-old Jude. I have also started the process to adopt 10-year-old Stiven. 

I’m a teacher, and became a foster parent because one of my students was taken into the system. When I started, I didn’t intend to adopt. But soon I found that any reservations about taking care of teenagers disappeared. Then kids in my home began asking me to adopt them and that is really how it all started. Having my home full of children gave my life a new purpose. 

Edwin was my first adoption, and he came to me when he was 15. He had been in and out of care for almost 17 years by the time the adoption was final. A recent graduate of Florida State University, he is currently working as a social services caseworker in Orlando. 

Lawrence also came when he was 15 after being in and out of foster care his entire life. He was 17 when the adoption was finalized. He aspires to be a business owner and is working full-time in Georgia. 

I adopted Giovanni at age 15 on Christmas Eve—what a gift he has been! He has experienced a lot of loss and many challenges. Right now, he’s in the process of joining the military. 

I adopted John and Fabian after they spent years in and out of foster care. John recently moved back with his birth mother in Missouri. This was not a surprise, nor an unhappy transition. In fact, I had been working with his mother for 18 months, along with a therapist, to help manage the transition. We still work together in John’s best interests. 

Angel is a talented athlete who arrived when he was 10. He was only supposed to be here for a few days, but that didn’t really work out. After many roller coaster years in foster care, Angel finally found permanency with our family. 

My soon-to-be newest addition, Jude, is the center of our family. He has significant medical needs, and I have to admit that I was initially intimidated by his level of need. But it only took two days and we were all in, hook, line and sinker. 

For us, a key part of adoption is connecting with the children’s families of origin. At the holidays, our home is filled with their siblings and extended relatives. Birth moms and dads call regularly, and we work together to maintain a healthy relationship. We embrace these connections. Our walls are hung with family photos that include birth parents, grandparents, and baby pictures. 

There is no greater reward than knowing you have positively changed the direction of a child’s life. One day Angel said to me, “You know what, I want to be like you one day.” I was waiting for the punchline. He continued, “I want to be like you and I want to help a bunch of kids too.” I wouldn’t have traded that moment for a million dollars. Some people ask how long will I continue doing this. All I know that as long as I can give a child in need a home, I will.