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13 children adopted during mass adoption ceremony in Hamilton County

300 views · Published 7 November 2018 · 2:31 · Indexed 23 September 2026

Channel: LOCAL 12 · 2018 · News & Politics

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CINCINNATI (WKRC) - On Friday, more than a dozen local children now have forever homes.

This was the 12th annual mass adoption ceremony for Hamilton County Job and Family Services.

It was a packed house in Judge Ralph Winkler's courtroom as 13 children were permanently united with nine forever families.

"It's really special to have our family here and our friends and just to see everybody else here adopting. It's been really a special day," said Christopher Kopulos, who adopted Dakari.

It was just as special as the day Tracy and Christopher Kopulos brought home Dakari. He was really sick when he was born and was in intensive care for 10 days. He was also diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

After a year, Tracy says Dakari's biological parents asked if they would adopt him and they said absolutely. Tracy says it has been amazing to see him doing so well in their home.

"The rewarding part for us is to see him grow and thrive in our home -- that you know, at one point, we were told he may never walk unassisted, and here he is walking around almost everywhere. He will rarely crawl. So to see him thrive and to grow and overcome major obstacles, that's the reward for us," Tracy said.

They already had two boys of their own. Drew and Will are happy to have another brother.

"For us -- our family -- our faith is really important to us, so as a family, we really want to have a purpose to serve God, and for us, we've chosen to do that through bringing in kids to our house that need a safe home. And so, just raising our kids in that environment where they see that the purpose of our family is to care for people who are in need is really important to us, and we're really excited that they get that chance through adoption," said Christopher. "It's something we've been waiting for for a really long time. It's just so exciting that it's finally happened. He's been a part of our family for two years, and we're so excited that now it's permanent. He's going to be in our family forever."

November is National Adoption Awareness Month. Hamilton County Job and Family Services have about 400 children available for adoption, which is the highest number in years.

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