MIDLAND, Texas — On Thursday at 1:30 p.m., Midland County saw a different kind of adoption take place: a virtual adoption. Instead of taking place in a courtroom, the proceedings took place over a Zoom call.
Michael and Kenya Vandiver adopted their relatives' son, 15 month-old Takoda or "Koda Bear" as they like to call him.
This type of adoption, in which a family adopts a relatives' child, is known as a kinship adoption.
Buckner Foster Care and Adoption was the agency that oversaw the whole process for the Vandiver family.
They say that this type of adoption wasn't at all normal thanks to COVID-19, because the entire ceremony took place online.
"We’re still following protocols and recommendations through the county and through our agency, and so we thought that it’s best to have the adoption virtually to meet the need of the amount of people that want to celebrate such a beautiful time in this family’s life," said Buckner Foster Care and Adoption Supervisor Jennifer Bernal.
Despite all of the unusual circumstances surrounding the ceremony, the Vandivers were still determined to adopt Takoda.
Part of Buckner's goal is to facilitate the process of keeping children with their biological family.
"We always try and keep children together with their families, and our permanency goal is reunification. If that’s with biological family or relatives within the family, we always strive to make those needs met," Bernal said.
Although Takoda is only 15 months old, he's been with the Vandiver family pretty much his entire life.
Michael and Kenya started caring for Takoda when he was only one month old due to Takoda's biological parents' ongoing CPS case.
"He was placed with them when he was a month old from the hospital, and they’ve had him since, They’ve taken care of him and met all of his needs that he needed while he was in their care," Bernal said.
Just as in Takoda's case, Buckner says that foster families and adoptions will continue to be necessary despite the current COVID-19 pandemic.
"We’re not stopping even though we are in a current pandemic. There’s plenty of kids that are needing homes, temporary homes, forever homes and so we want to ensure that we have the resources available to those families in the community," Bernal said.
MORE FROM THIS REPORTER: