Teen finally found his forever family after spending 11 years in the foster care system and living in 15 homes

A teen who had been in the foster care system since he was three years old finally found a forever family after living in 15 foster homes.

Unsurprisingly, Alex Madkour, 13, had lost all hope in finding a forever home after 11 years of living with different sets of adults.

Jumping from one home to another meant that he never completed a single year in the same school. He also had little to no long-term connections.

“Trust was a really big issue, there was no point in even looking for a family or trying because I thought I would just end up back in a foster home,” he said.

Thankfully, Alex was saved from the endless loop of foster homes when Jenny and Stephen Markour, both lawyers, saw him on Jeff Graniola’s Wednesday’s Child segment in 2017.

After hearing the teen’s story, the couple immediately wanted to know more about him.

“When we saw Alex and read about him, we were just like wow, that kid is made for us,” Jenny said.

Jenny and Stephen were also concerned about the number of children in foster care in their area. They had an extra bedroom in their home, so they had been thinking about taking in an older child for a while.

Meanwhile, the Alex’s caseworker at Boys and Girls Aid told him about the interested couple. But after getting his heart broken too many times, he didn’t want to get his hopes up too much.

“I didn’t believe them,” Alex said at the time. “This is not going to happen, you guys are just trying to fool me.”

“It was a really big struggle to [think] ‘OK, I’m going from this home, in two weeks I’m going to another home,” he added.

But this time was different. After meeting Alex once, Jenny and Stephen saw something special in him. The connection they felt with him was hard to ignore.

“Anybody who’s seen that video of Alex, his core awesome comes out in that video,” Jenny said. “It was such a great thing, the way Jeff Gianola talked to him and Alex’s interaction with him, it really gave us a glimpse of who Alex is.”

They met Alex right before Thanksgiving, and before Christmas, they asked him to move in with them.

Jenny and Stephen started working on his adoption papers, and Alex couldn’t believe it was really happening.

“I didn’t think I was going to find a forever home this good,” he said.

The couple lives on a farm in Oregon and said that Alex “jumped in with both feet” where the animals were involved.

“To have these two people in my life that I can trust is a really big thing because I know it’s going somewhere,” the teen said.

Alex helps around the farm and enjoys commuting to school with Jenny. The couple, who are both adventurous, took him on his first ski trip in Colorado. Being in a stable home also allowed him to finish a full year attending the same school.

Like any parent, Jenny and Stephen only wish the best for their adopted son.

“We hope for Alex everything that any parent would hope for their kids, hopefully our love and the stability and always having a place to come home to will give him that foundation to do all the great things that his heart desires. There’s a ton of kids out there who are just looking for someone to love them,” Jenny said.

All three are looking forward to what the future holds.

“From where our family is, it’s just been the best thing. I think we bring a tremendous amount to Alex and I know he brings a tremendous amount to us,” Jenny said.

There are still many kids like Alex who are uncertain about their futures. And when they age out of the foster care system at 18 years old, the insecurity only increases.

Hopefully, this story inspires other capable adults to consider adoption.

Check out the video below to learn more about Alex’s inspiring adoption story.

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