At a time when everyone else is cutting back, one Orangeburg family grew exponentially in one day.

On Monday, Brad and Lori Davis finalized the adoption of five siblings in Sumter. The couple has even built an additional bedroom to help accommodate the special needs children, who range in age from 5-13.

Lori Davis says all five were placed when the couple was a licensed Orangeburg County foster home.

“We were foster parents since 2002,” Davis said. “All five children actually came from Lexington County, but there weren’t any foster homes to place them there. So the Department of Social Services called Orangeburg County,” David said. “We got the first four in 2004, and their sister was placed here a year later.”

“The arrangement was supposed to be temporary, but DSS kept asking us if we wanted to adopt them,” she said. “We said absolutely no, several times. After they kept asking for six to nine months, we told them to give us the information and we’ll decide. What clinched it was the fact they would be split up if we didn’t adopt them as a group.”

“In the last three months, I have been told that the youngest boy and his sister, who were always together, would probably not survive if they were separated. I think this is how they cope, ” Davis said.

Nichole Davis, DSS Region 2 adoption specialist, says most potential adoptive parents must wait three to six months to make it official.

“After the adoption placement paperwork is signed and an attorney files the adoption action the process moves to a finalization hearing in court,” Davis said. “It usually takes three to six months before a couple can get a court date.”

“The Davises signed their placement papers during the first week of June,” she said. “(Third Judicial Circuit Family Court) Judge (George) McFaddin started doing what he called Adoption Day last year, where he takes one day and does nothing but adoption hearings in Sumter. The Davises had their finalization hearing during this year’s Adoption Day.”

Brad Davis, whose local septic tank business also involves several family members, says having a large family is natural for him.

“We’ve always loved kids,” Davis said. “We first met 30 years ago when I was a floor guard at a skating rink. I was 20 and she was 12. We had a bunch of things in common. We liked county music, skating and kids.”

“I grew up at the end of a time where it was a common thing for extended families to live together,” he said. “I remember when we all lived together and that was considered normal.”

Lori Davis says her newly adopted brood – Justin, 13; Corey, 11; Daniel, 9; Nicholas, 7; Rebecca, 5 – join two other children for whom the couple has legal custody and guardianship.

“All five have Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and one has a cleft palate,” Davis said. “I don’t treat them as special needs kids; I do not label them that way. I treat them as one of my own. They are treated just like any other kid, including discipline, and I don’t pamper them.”

Rebecca Collins is one of Lori Davis’ three grown children from a previous marriage. She says her mother goes out of her way to treat every child as an individual.

“She has tons of patience,” Collins said. “She makes several trips to Columbia several times a week to get them to their doctor appointments. As a foster parent, she took some of the money and put it in a wallet for each child so they could buy little things they wanted. She even traded in her car for a 15-passenger van so they could all ride together.”

Lori Davis says her love of children comes honestly.

“I never knew I would be doing this, but I got it from my parents,” Davis said. “We would load up vehicles with our kids and their buddies. We would do family vacations at a house for a week, and there were always at least four to five other friends with us. My parents never would shut a door to anyone.”

Davis says the irony is that she and her husband were going to turn in their foster parent license on the day the children were first placed with them.

“Basically, it is one day at a time. We take it as it comes,” Davis said. “Our everyday life will not change because we’ve been in it for five years.”

“We are approached by folks all the time who ask us, ‘Are they all yours?’” she said. “And I tell them yes.

“They’re all mine.”

T&D Staff Writer Phil Sarata can be reached by e-mail at psarata@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5540. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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