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Six years ago, Mike Brostowitz received a phone call that was about to change his family’s life. A social worker called about a group of four siblings who needed a forever home.
Mike and his wife, Dawn Brostowitz, who live in Nekoosa, Wisconsin, had just begun the formal process of obtaining a foster permit with the intention of adopting. At the time, their birth sons Austin and Leo were 10 and 12 years old.
“We were very, very open with our social worker that we wanted to adopt,” said Dawn.
When Mike called Dawn to share the news, he asked if she would sit down.
“And I immediately asked, ‘What did you break or buy?’ Because I knew he did something, “said Dawn.
Despite the surprise of four siblings, the couple spoke to two of their former foster mothers and immediately sensed that the children were special. That feeling was confirmed when they first met the four siblings – Bruce, Autumn, Annissa, and Atlantis – on a short weekend visit.
After acquiring a temporary license, the siblings moved in nine days later, the couple said. During that time, Mike said, he remodeled the whole house and even started building an extra bedroom to make them feel at home.
“When they came for the weekend visit, they saw the house under construction and the kids were allowed to go with us that weekend and choose the colors for the rooms and all of the bedding. So when they showed up, the rooms were all there,” said Mike.
The following June 2017, the Brostowitzes officially adopted the four siblings and their family of four doubled to a family of eight. While the Brostowitzes said they were overjoyed, having six children brings challenges from scheduling to finances to adjusting to new family dynamics.
“All of a sudden we’ve added a whole new family to ours and this settling-in period has been really interesting,” said her son Austin.
However, with a supportive network of family and friends who could help them, the family struck a balance. They even had other foster children with them at times, including an additional group of five foster children who sometimes filled their homes with eleven children.
“I am happy to have a great family who have taken us in and can give us loving homes that we never thought we would,” said Autumn, 16.
The importance of family
The Brostowitzes say the years have taught them something meaningful about family.
The Brostowitz brothers pose with their new tattoos and celebrate the day they officially became family.
“When we started preparing for care, we said that every child who comes into our home is treated the same as our birth children,” said Mike. “They were loved equally, they got to do and experience the same things as our biological children, and I think that was a very strong building block for our family.”
Family is not blood. Family are the people you want to be with.
“The four [children] those we adopted are my children no matter what, they are my children, I may not have given birth to them. But they’re 100% my kids, “said Dawn of their bond.
We celebrate your “family versary” with matching tattoos
The Brostowitzes say they also have their own ways of celebrating each other. One option is to have a Family Versary Dinner in February to celebrate the day Bruce, Autumn, Annissa, and Atlantis first moved in.
To commemorate they became a legal family, Mike and their sons got all the tattoos of the day – June 23, 2017 – in Roman numerals this year.
“We all got the adoption date tattooed on our bodies as a sign that family is not blood. Family is the people you choose to be with … that you choose to be with,” Austin said.
Dawn and her daughters Autumn, 16, Annissa, 13, and Atlantis, 10, plan to follow suit when they are older.
“When the girls got older, I said I’d do one with them. And everyone agreed on that,” said Dawn.
In November, to mark National Adoption Month, Dawn said the family is sharing their story to show the importance of foster care and adoptions in hopes of inspiring others.
“I tell everyone who hears our story because if we can, anyone can,” she said. “Even if you think you can’t, you really can. It’s about changing your priorities, changing your lifestyle.”
“I’m happier with my siblings in my life than without them. I can’t imagine how different it would be if I didn’t have them,” Austin said.
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https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Family/family-shares-adoption-story-marks-bond-matching-tattoos/story?id=81286991
