A Home for the Holidays

DeRitis Family – Orange County, Calif.

Jesse was 4 when he was placed in foster care with his 2-year-old sister, Cynthia, due to extreme neglect. The children spent years moving from home to home. Jesse remembers thinking, "Does anyone really want us? Is there something we're doing wrong?" Four years later, aerospace engineer Richard DeRitis and his wife, Joanne, who had married later in life, adopted the siblings. Today, their lives transformed, both children are in college and love to fly with their dad.

Hohl Family – Inland Empire, Calif.

Louis and Lakiesha Hohl had always wanted a big family, and with four sons, they already had one. The couple chose to expand their family by adopting sisters Anayah, 5, and Sammie, 3, both ballerinas. The girls had been neglected and separated in foster care and are now thriving in their large, loving family.

Adams Family – Orange County, Calif.

After learning at church that single parents can adopt from foster care, psychologist David Adams adopted seven-year-old Makayla and her nine-year-old brother, Andrew. The siblings had been in foster care for more than half their lives. They adore visiting their new grandparents – Adam's parents – in Oklahoma and hope their dad finds a wife who "loves him as much as we do," says Andrew.

A Special Adoption

This year, the television audience will witness the creation of a family through an adoption on-stage. The story leading up to the adoption and the adoption itself will be a moving and memorable television moment.