JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After a brief ceremony in Jacksonville, seven siblings were officially adopted by Rosa Soloman.
Judge David Gooding, who has presided over thousands of adoptions in the city, said this is the first time he granted an adoption of four girls and three boys to one parent, and it's the largest single adoption he has ever finalized.
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"So important to keep children together," Gooding said. "It exacerbates the trauma."
Solomon has been working to adopt all of the kids since 2009. The brothers and sisters range in age from 2 to 13 years old.
Keeping the kids together is what motivated Soloman to adopt in the first place.
"I've been doing foster care since 2001," she said. "I just wanted them to stay together."
Currently, there are 155 children available for adoption in Duval and Nassau counties. One hundred of those are matched with an adoptive family, but 55 are not.
For more information on adoption and foster care, visit fssjax.org.