Home for the holidays: Adoption day in Horry Co. puts 12 children with forever families

A happy voice shouts “Daddy” and it rings out in the courtroom. A little one has found his forever home.

It’s adoption day — the only day children are allowed inside courtrooms at the Horry County Courthouse. A day where clapping is accepted. And the judge gives away presents — teddy bears and plastic footballs.

Foster and adoptive parents Brenda Major and Darin Green from Conway were matching in their adoption day shirts. Monday was their first adoption through S.C. Department of Social Services. The couple, along with their daughter Aly Major-Green, welcomed 2-year-old Katie Grace.

“She was terrified of men and now she’s my little shadow,” Green said.

Major said Katie Grace came into the family the day after her first birthday. “We’ve been through lots of therapy … and we’ve come a long way. She’s doing great now.”

Major is a founder of G.E.M., a local group of foster parents who help people through the foster licensing process. She said people always say they could not do what her family does by fostering, and that it would hurt too much to give the children back. Major said it does hurt, but it’s about the children.

“If we don’t take them in, nobody else is going to,” she said. “It’s about what’s best for them.”

Family Court Judge Jan Bromell Holmes solidified adoptions, saying, “The court will certainly grant the adoption of this child … ” And before the families walked out of the courtroom, Holmes met each child for a photo and to give them gifts.

Myrtle Beach residents Christopher Rexford and Stephen Mathison made their family official Monday with 17-month-old Xander, who they’ve fostered since he was one month old.

“We’re ready for this next chapter of his life,” Rexford said.

Rexford and Mathison want to educate the public about same-sex couples fostering and adopting. Mathison said the process was “warm and welcoming.”

“There’s always the fear of being discriminated against,” Rexford said. “They just looked at us as a family taking on a child who needed a home and who will now have a permanent home.”

Just days before Thanksgiving, 12 children were adopted into nine families in Horry County and 62 children total were adopted in South Carolina. It’s the second year South Carolina has had a statewide adoption day.

“Adoption is the happy thing that happens in family court,” said Chrysti Shain, S.C. Department of Social Services spokeswoman.

Shain said there are about 600 children statewide eligible to be adopted.

Families traveled to the courthouse from different parts of the county and surrounding counties to make adoptions official, bringing friends, family members and wearing matching T-shirts.

Traveling from Florence County, Kiesha and Frankie Robinson welcomed two-year-old Frankie Jr. into their family after the normal proceedings of taking the witness stand to tell the judge they are fit to adopt.

Kiesha Robinson said she was holding back the tears. “I could hardly sleep last night,” she said. “I’m just happy for this day. I’m looking forward to our first family portrait, our first family vacation, just his growth and development in general.”