From the photographs, you can tell they are already a family. There’s Jessaka and Justin Clark, and their biological son, Noah. Then there are seven other smiling faces: Maria, Elizabet, Guillermo, Jason, Kristina, Katerin and James; the newest additions to a clan brought together by a little bit of good timing and a lot of courage.
The Clarks, who live in Rincon, Georgia, were exploring adoption options when their caseworker brought them an unusual proposition: Instead of one or two children, what about seven, all at the same time?
“We prayed about it for one night before we said yes,” Jessaka Clark told CNN.
The “Super 7,” as the Clarks call them, share a biological mother and had been living together in a group foster home for four years when the Clarks met them in April of 2016. The brothers and sisters range in age from five to 14, and it was important for them — and for the Clarks — that they stick together.
After a few visitations and overnight stays, the Super 7 moved in with the Clarks in August of 2016.
Ten long months later, the adoption process was finalized, and the Clarks went from a party of three to a party of ten.
While it’s an extraordinary situation, Clark says the family gets on just like any other.
“They’ve really grown into the normalcy of a family unit,” Clark says. “They all get along well! They have their normal sibling spats but they’re not very often and not very big.”
“The biggest thing we want people to know is how great of a need there is for foster and adoptive homes in the US,” Clark says. “The numbers are staggering and the reality is there are children without families who are living down the street from you.”