Dads Adopt 6 Kids, ‘Really Terrified’ of the Eldest Daughter’s Possible Reaction at First

A Florida couple knew they wanted to start a family and turned to foster care and adoption to complete their home. While they are now happy fathers to their children, it was initially daunting for them.

Dustin and Daniel Johnson began a conversation about having children very early in their relationship, on their first date, in fact. The couple agreed they wanted children and started the process of completing their family through adoption soon after.

Dustin told Daniel that he had to be with someone who wanted children, and when Daniel replied that he felt the same, Dustin felt a profound sense of relief. Yet neither of them expected how their family would grow.

Dustin and Daniel tied the knot less than two years after beginning their relationship and then immediately began pre-adoption classes. The men did not consider surrogacy as a means to start their family.

By November 2021, the couple’s adoption specialist asked them how many children they would like to adopt. Dustin revealed:

“Daniel and I kind of made the joke that we could fit six in the back of our Suburban. The next month, in December, our adoption specialist reached out and said, ‘How serious are you about that six number?'”

While Dustin and Daniel had been joking about caring for six children, it quickly became clear to them that their adoption specialist was not, and the couple was faced with an enormous and life-changing decision.

Dustin and Daniel discovered that six siblings were living in five different foster homes and needed their forever families. As the pair saw photos of the six children and learned their stories, they fell in love with each of them.

The couple knew the children wanted to be back together again, living in a loving home, so they agreed to take all six of them in. They started the match process so the children could be with them forever.

The matching process took over a year, and they faced many difficulties along the way. Finally, in March 2022, Dustin and Daniel learned that their match process was successful and the children could stay with them for good.

Another year of hurdles lay ahead of the new family before they finalized the adoption in May this year. It was important for Dustin and Daniel to take in all six siblings because they both have close bonds with their siblings and knew how it would have hurt them to grow up separated.

As of May this year, Dustin and Daniel are the official adoptive parents of Reid, 11; Amiyah, 10; Izayah, 9; Kaelix, 7; Cade, 6; and Roslin, 3. Before being adopted, the siblings had been in foster care for three years, with one of them having over 25 placements.

While they now live happily, it was difficult for the couple to build a bond with one of the children. Their eldest daughter, Amiyah, struggled to warm up to the idea of being adopted by Dustin and Daniel, with Dustin saying she was a “holdout.” He believes it might be because she thought her biological mother would return for her.

Dustin believes it was difficult for Amiyah to bond with them because she thought that she was betraying her mother by doing so. He confessed:

“We were actually really terrified of what was going to happen.”

However, it all worked out in the end. As Dustin said, Amiyah had a change of heart and was so happy when she was finally adopted that she cried tears of joy at the prospect of a new family and a fresh start.

Now, the Johnson family loves spending time together. They enjoy the outdoors, often going on bike rides, fishing, or playing with sidewalk chalk. Most evenings, they curl up on the couch together.

While the Johnson children have had many new experiences with their fathers over the last couple of months, Dustin shared what they are most interested in. He shared:

“The new thing they’re excited about is taking vacations. They love vacations now, but hotels used to be a trigger because they’ve lived in hotels.”

Dustin is referring to before his children were adopted, when hotels were not a place where the children went on vacation but rather another place of uncertainty for them as children in the system.

While they spent three years living apart from each other while in the system, the Johnson siblings are now as close as they can be. Dustin and Daniel shared that their children are now “almost codependent.”

The couple shared that they had initially split the boys up into two separate bedrooms, but they approached their fathers and asked permission to all live in the same bedroom. The family has been living together since last year and has adjusted to being a large family.

Dustin and Daniel have made some adjustments, too. The sedan they initially joked they could fit six children in has now been traded in for a 15-seater passenger van. They have also changed the way they shop.

The couple had to quickly adjust the way they shopped when they became an instant family of eight. Instead of shopping at small grocery stores, the couple buys in bulk at places like Costco or Sam’s Club to cater to their large family.

Daniel, who now works at the local public school his six children attend, said that becoming a father to his large brood has been fun, engaging, and educational for him and his husband. They were also asked whether or not they would consider adopting more children.

When asked if they would consider expanding their family again, the men laughed and said that the biological mother of their six children is pregnant and due later this year. Yet they did not say whether or not they would be adopting the baby.

The Johnson children are some of the few children who get a second chance at a loving family. Hanna was another one of these children, read her story here.