Opening up your home to a child who’s looking for family is one of the most compassionate things a person can do. But doing so for seven children to keep them all together as a family is on another level. That’s exactly what Dashoan and Sofia Olds did when they went from having no children to an entire house full of them. 

“It was a done deal from the day we saw the story; before we even met them, it was a done deal. When I saw that picture, it was a done deal for me, honestly,” Sofia Olds told WJHG. “We looked at each other and said, ‘We’ve got to do this, it’s time. There’s no maybe; we have to do this.’”

Adopting a child isn’t easy – for anyone involved in the process. The parents are bringing a new person into their family, the children are coming into a new environment and the social workers have to make sure everything goes as planned. Multiplying the headaches of that process by seven is surely a story worth celebrating.

“I heard from so many people that finding a home for seven children would be impossible,” said Blair Bell, who works with the Children’s Home Society. “Siblings […] that’s the longest bond that you’ll have; it was very important to find a home that would be able to take all seven and make a real forever family.”

Next, the Olds say that they’re going to do all they can to offer a stable, loving home environment to Necia, Dava, Erica, Eric, Zavian, Leondras and Reginald.

“We’re going to build their faith up, we’re going to build them educationally,” Dashoan Olds said. “We’re going to get them active in a sport or an activity, or something extracurricular. And we’re going to love each other, so we’re going to do all of it.”

The Olds also want to tell anyone considering adopting children that there’s never going to be a perfect time. If it’s something you really want to do, take the steps necessary now.