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Single Dad Adopts Abandoned 13-Year-Old
On November 12, 2019, single dad Peter Mutabazi of Charlotte, North Carolina, adopted 13-year-old Tony, who entered the foster care system at 2 years old. Peter has been a foster parent for three years, fostering 12 children. He was only supposed to keep Tony for a few days, but when Peter learned his story—Tony’s former adoptive parents dropped him off at a hospital when he was 11 years old and never returned for him—he couldn’t let him go.
“By that time, I was crying. I thought, ‘Who would do that?’ Once I knew the parents’ rights were signed off and he had nowhere to go, I [knew] I had to take him,” Peter told Good Morning America.
When Peter was 10, he ran away from his abusive home in Uganda and found someone who helped guide him through school. He eventually moved to the United States, became a citizen and began working with the nonprofit organization World Vision United States.
“For what someone did for me, I wanted to do something for someone else,” Peter told GMA. “I had the room, the resources, so I had no reason to let him go.”
“From day one, he’s always called me ‘Dad.’ He truly meant it and he looks up to me. He’s proud to show me at school and say, ‘Hey, he’s my dad.’ That’s something that I love about him,” Peter continued.
Peter and Tony enjoy doing countless activities together, such as watching movies, playing games, reading books and riding bikes. Soon enough, the pair will be welcoming a new foster child into their home!
This father-son duo proves that as long as a family is loving and supportive, it doesn’t have to fit into any sort of mold!