MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. - Not every child is fortunate enough to have a home or parents who love them.
Hundreds of children in Mecklenburg County are waiting in foster care for someone to adopt them. However Saturday, there was a celebration for a number of children who were just adopted.
It's the rare time real happiness comes out of the courtroom.
"It is hereby declared, a judged and ordered," the judge said as she opened the adoption finalization proceedings.
The hearing was the final step to seal the bond between adoptive parent and adoptive child.
On Saturday, 122 new families were born at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse.
"Today, we are officially adopting Joseph," said Terrance Massey-Matthews. One-year-old Joseph is Massey-Matthews and his husband Cliff's first, finalized adoption.
"He's our third foster child," Cliff Matthews explained.
They have four in all. "That was not the plan," Massey-Matthews said.
They veered from it after suffering a tragedy with a baby named Emanuel.
"He was born with a birth defect and he was our second foster child with the hopes of adopting," Cliff Matthews said. But he died in February of 2015.
“We were there when Emanuel was born,” Terrance said. “We cared for him all the way up until the end."
Soon after, they got a call that reminded them why they became foster parents. Mecklenburg County Youth and Family Services told them another abused or neglected child needed a loving, supportive home. "I wanted to make a difference in a child's life and that was the ultimate goal," Terrance said.
"Right now, we have over 500 children that are in temporary care and foster care in our system," Mecklenburg County Youth & Family Services Director Charles Bradley said.
Bradley says fewer than a hundred of them are cleared for adoption. "So, that means there's about 400 children that are still in that process," Bradley said.
That, Bradley added, emphasizes the importance of the big step these families have taken. "This is a day where we get to recognize the families that have achieved adoption through this year."
Terrance Massey-Matthews and his husband Cliff say it is the unconditional love they hope inspires others to adopt.
"I think the more couples that do that the greater impact we will have in the community, but also to show places, a family is a family is a family," Cliff Matthews said.
Anyone interested in becoming a foster or adoptive parent has to first start with a pre-adoption workshop. Youth and family services is holding the next one January 21st.