“I finally have a real family,” said one of the brothers
From foster care, Steve and Rob Anderson-McLean adopt six siblings.
Adopting six siblings together was something Pittsburgh couple Steve and Rob Anderson-McLean just knew they had to do.
The Anderson-McLeans were eventually able to provide the children with their forever home after the six brothers and sisters had been in foster care for five years. According to Today, the couple, who have been together for over 20 years, formally announced their decision on May 23 in the Pittsburgh courtroom of Judge Joseph K. Williams.
Steve and Rob were already parents to Steve’s sons Parker, 25, and Noah, 21, from a previous marriage, Today reported. Then they learned about the siblings in 2018.
“We saw their picture and fell in love,” said Rob, 47. “So many sibling groups are broken up because people just want to adopt the younger children. Steve and I knew these guys needed to be together.”
Carlos, 14, Guadalupe, 13, Maria, 12, Selena, 10, Nasa, 9, and Max, 7, came to live with the couple in July 2018.
“After the first week they were asking if they could stay forever,” Steve, 48, told the outlet. “We took them to the park and to the zoo. We played in the yard.”
“That was all new to them,” he added. “Having fun was new to them.”
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Steve Anderson-McLean and Rob Anderson-McLean adopt 6 siblings from foster careThe Anderson-McLean family. Courtesy Anderson-McLean Family
Following the adoption, the kids felt a “huge sense of relief,” Steve explained.
“They had been let down by adults so many times in their life, and were nervous it wasn’t going to happen,” he told Today.
While Steve and Rob were initially worried about how Carlos, a teenager, would adjust to life with same-sex parents, they were in for a pleasant surprise.
“We thought with Carlos being a teen, he might have a hard time, but it has not bothered him one bit,” Steve said.
Steve Anderson-McLean and Rob Anderson-McLean adopt 6 siblings from foster care
The Anderson-McLean family.
Reflecting on the happy family’s new life together, Rob told Today, “We feel so lucky.”
“The other night, Max, our 7-year-old, looks at me and goes, ‘I’m adopted,’ ” said Steve. “I nodded and he said, ‘You can’t get unadopted right?’ And I had to reassure him that he will always be our son.”
“I’m not a foster kid anymore,” Carlos recently told Steve, according to Today. “I don’t have to carry that title around. I finally have a real family.”
