Frequently Asked Questions

Do you have any biological children?
I do not have any biological children nor do I have a desire to have biological children.

How did you get started building your family through adoption?

I started out as a foster parent at the age of 19. Eventually I was encouraged to adopt some of the children I was foster parenting. I not only wanted the children to have permanency but I also wanted to know that these children were going to be a part of my “forever family.” By, early 1999 I was able to adopt most of the boys who were living with me.

How many children have you adopted?

I have legally adopted 53 children. Three adoptions are still pending and should be completed by the end of this year. This will be a total of 56 children adopted. One additional child I will be able to take guardianship. Of my adoptions and pending adoptions, ten of the boys were adopted internationally. Additionally, ten of the children’s adoptions were private adoptions and eight of those were children who had disrupted from families who had previously adopted them. The other children were adopted through Department of Social Services, primarily from California.

Why have you only adopted boys?

I saw the movie “Oliver!” when I was about eight years old. From that point forward I was very interested in adopting and providing a loving and stable home for orphan boys. I have not, however, limited myself to only boys, in fact when I first started as a foster parent, I was parenting teenager girls.

How do you pick the children you adopt?

I am generally matched with children for whom every other viable resource has been exhausted. Statistically, I have read the boys wait longer for their “forever families” than girls. Additionally younger children tend to be adopted more often than older children. Also, children without disabilities are more easily matched with adoptive families than children with disabilities. Finally children of ethnicities other than Caucasian often wait longer to be matched with adoptive families. I have always said that I have not limited myself to only parenting boys. I have decided to parent the children who have not been successful being matched with other waiting families. In my experience, it seems that the need has been the strongest for older boys with disabilities and/or of varying ethnicities.

Why have you adopted internationally when there are so many children available in the USA?

I have not concerned myself with where my children were born. There are lots of parentless children all over the world. I want to be a match for a child without a family. With that in mind, our children were born all over the United States, Africa, and in Europe. All of the children are now American citizens and more importantly permanent members of my family. I have always made my family available to social workers matching children domestically and internationally. I maintain a current homestudy to complete either type of adoption.

How many children are you planning to adopt?

There isn't a plan, actually. I will continue to make myself available as long as I have room in my heart and in my home to parent another child.

What size home do you have?

I currently have two homes, next door to each other. One home has is currently a nine bedroom and five bathroom two-story home with a residential elevator. The other home has six bedrooms and three bathrooms. I am in the beginning stages of adding an additional bedroom, bathroom, and a music room sound studio. We hope to have our plans approved by the city during the summer of 2011 and begin construction on the fall of 2011.

How many loads of laundry do you do a day?

We wash, dry, fold and put-away almost 55 loads of laundry a day! We do have five washers and five dryers but we often do get back-up especially when they get come home from overnight camp. In these cases we use the laundry mat.

Here is a song the boys wrote about our laundry situation:

The Laundry Mat Song  By Jarrod, Jordan, Alexander, and David Silcock   36 loads a day This part is true When our washer breaks We all know what to do   We load up the wash In baskets and bags Working together So nobody lags    Washers in line As far as we can see Carefully we load them We cant stop to pee While the washers do their job We go to buy a snack Hurry, we remind each other We have to get back    When the wash is done We put everything in the dryer We wait and wait and wait While the temperature gets higher   Now the clothes are dry We clap when we are done Back home we go Doing laundry is of fun    (Chorus) Laundry mat, laundry mat That’s where all the fun is at, The laundry mat

What is your weekly grocery bill?

I spend about $150 a week on produce alone. I also spend approximately $1,500 every week and a half at the large grocery warehouse stores. Throughout the week I have to run to the store for items like specific items for meals along with milk and eggs, etc. which can cost up to $300 in a seven-day period. Food costs are one of my largest single costs which is not hard to imagine since I have a house full of boys, many of them growing teenagers.

How do you afford to provide for your large family?

I run a small business called “First Step Supported Living Services." This business helps adults with developmental and other disabilities to live in their own homes in the community. From this business I am able to pay myself a small salary. Additionally, some of my children are eligible for the Adoption Assistance Program (AAP) which provides both medical insurance and a monthly stipend to provide for each eligible child’s unique needs. Thankfully, AAP is an available resource for most children to the age of 18 (and in some cases 21) who were adopted through the foster care system and are considered to have “special needs” which include older children, sibling sets, children with disabilities, children whose bio-parents have an adverse background, and children of varying ethnicities. AAP was established as a financial incentive to encourage the adoption of children with special needs who otherwise would not have found adoptive families. Besides this monthly stipend, some of our adult children with eligible receive SSI benefits. Our family also receive respite services for the Regional Center of Orange County for some of the children still living at home. Basically I try to tap into every generic financial resource available to my children and my family. Additionally we have periodically received donations through our non-profit organization that we use to off-set the costs of camps and other recreational programs for our boys.

How can I help your family?

I have maintained a Wish List on our web site. Feel free to check it out. I also love having volunteers, individually and organizations, to assist us with various projects from household repairs to planning birthday parties. Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in helping our family. (Ann) Allourboys@hotmail.com