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Ohio — When Caleb and his brother Dylan were placed in foster care, Caleb didn’t understand what was happening.

“I never understood the bad side of things, so I didn’t know why I was being moved away,” he said. Things were falling apart as his mother struggled with substance use and eventually his father abandoned them. When the siblings were placed into foster care, Dylan was placed in a residential home to help him process his trauma and resulting behaviors, and Caleb moved from home to foster home.

The siblings were separated for five years.

Caleb eventually was placed with Kara and Aaron, a couple who had been foster parents before, and offered a home filled with pets and positive energy. “We didn’t know if he would like it here. But his caseworker came for the seven-day visit and asked him if he wanted to stay here, and Caleb said he did,” Kara explained.

Kara knew Caleb and Dylan needed to be reunited. “I had heard they decided they would not be adopted unless they both could do it together. They had a pact,” Kara said. “We started visiting Dylan in his residential home. When he stepped down to a group home near us, we got him every chance we could until he could move in with us.”

But even though Caleb felt safe and was starting to deeply care for his foster family, he was not open to adoption. The siblings’ Wendy’s Wonderful Kids^® recruiter, Trent, with Caring for Kids, wanted to respect their wishes but also wanted to show them what the two outcomes could look like. “This is their life,” said Trent. “Caleb is going to live Caleb’s life, and Dylan is going to live Dylan’s life. “But I wanted to help break down any barriers they had.”

Through Wendy’s Wonderful Kids, the Foundation supports the hiring of adoption professionals, like Trent, who are dedicated to serving children in foster care, including teenagers, children with special needs and siblings who are too often overlooked.

“Trent respected us. We trusted him,” Caleb said.  “I didn’t want to get adopted. I always had it in the back of my head that my mom would come and get me. She made a lot of promises, and it was really hard to let that go.”

“I liked it there,” said Dylan. “Caleb was already there. I felt safe. I wanted to be adopted and have a family. I would watch movies and just wish I had a family to watch movies with. Popcorn, blankets, drinks, all of it!”

With Dylan in the home, Caleb warmed up to the idea of adoption.

“I never felt like I could push it,” Kara said. “But I would drop hints and ask him things like, ‘Who would you want to come to your wedding?’ and he would say, ‘Well, I would hope you would!’”

“It’s our job to be there for them. To teach them and not to turn our back when they mess up,” said Aaron, the boys’ dad. “Why would I give up over something that is easily discussed and fixed?”

Kara added, “And that was one of the factors in his adoption where I’m like, ‘This is a promise I’m making to you to make sure you understand that I’m here forever.””

With help from the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption’s community of supporters, Caleb and Dylan were adopted together at ages 17 and 18.

“It gives me a lot of anxiety to move. I feel safe knowing I don’t have to anymore,” Dylan shared.

“I get to keep the same school. I don’t have to rebuild connections and find friends,” Caleb said.

Now, the brothers are thriving and reaching their own milestones.

Caleb is learning to drive and looking at colleges where he hopes to major in accounting. Dylan plans to graduate this spring and will look for a job close to home.

“I’m so proud of how much each of them has grown,” Kara said. “Both boys have autism, so they do need certain support, Dylan more than Caleb, but they’ve come so far and grown so much. I know they’ll be ok.”

Caleb and Dylan are young men of few words, but Caleb sums up having Kara and Aaron as their parents very simply.

“Wonderful, wonderful,” Caleb said.

If you have room in your home or in your heart, you can help siblings, like Dylan and Caleb, waiting for a family right now. Explore ways to get involved and join our caring community that makes stories like these possible.