A Montgomery County sheriff's deputy shared his adoption story with Fox News earlier this week and has encouraged many Texans to consider adopting a child from local foster care agencies. Deputy Jose Amstutz from Kingwood says that he recalls a childhood of abuse and neglect after his birth mother had abandoned him and his siblings several times. Texas family courts eventually terminated the parental rights of Mr. Amstuz's biological mother.
While in a Texas foster home, he saw several potential parents come and go, but eventually a Houston couple took the boy under their wing and signed the official adoption papers.
"That was my happiest moment, was meeting my new parents," Deputy Amstuz told Fox News.
Now at the age of 29, Mr. Amstuz is a single father to an 8-year-old child named Desiree and an advocate for local adoption services. There are more than 1,700 foster children who are awaiting adoption in the greater Houston area and more than 6,000 children in the state of Texas who are looking for new adoptive parents, according to Child Protective Services. A Houston adoption attorney can help both couples and individuals with the legal process that adoption entails.
Deputy Amstuz recently reunited with his birth mother through the Texas Department of Family Protective Services. The agency's adoption mutual-consent registry is designed to allow adoptees and birth parents to locate one another by listing themselves in the registry. Those who are looking to sign up with the Voluntary Adoption Registry can visit http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Child_Protection/Adoption_Registry/default.asp.
Related Resources:
- Adoption Option: Agency, Attorney... or Both (FindLaw's Law and Daily Life blog)
- Law on Adoption - Texas (FindLaw)
- Houston Adoption Attorney Directory (FindLaw)
