‘Forever family’ grows to 12 as couple adopt 5 siblings
The Hairr family stomped through the courthouse like a football team gearing up for a championship game.
The squad wore black jerseys, each numbered from oldest to youngest and outlined with a red heart.
Tuesday was the day the judge would officially make the Hairrs a family of 12. And for the five newest adopted kids, the hearing culminated in what they had wanted their whole lives: a home.
Most important, the siblings — whose ages range from 2 to 12 — would never have to be separated again. Outside Courtroom 12, they sported the T-shirts with their new last name. The littlest one, 2-year-old Joselyn, carried a bouquet of red roses as a shiny red bow bounced in her hair.
It was the first in-person adoption hearing before District Judge Margaret Pickard since the pandemic began, and the proceeding had been delayed for a year due to COVID-19.
The bailiff walked out of the courtroom and smiled at the small crowd of social workers with parents Aimee and Heath Hairr and their team of kids.
“Am I here to see you guys?” he said before he let them in.
Behind the bench, Pickard smiled.
“Wow,” she said. “I need you to line up by number.”
On the screen above, other relatives watched the hearing virtually. Twelve years earlier, the Hairrs had been in another Clark County courtroom, adopting their two sons Jaden and James.
On Tuesday, Aimee Hairr, 45, thanked the tearful social workers and the court-appointed special advocate who helped them get to this point.
“To be placed with such a team of devoted, loving humans is nothing short of miraculous,” she said. “It’s what holds us together as a family. It’s what helps us grow.”
From there, the parents raised their right hands and took an oath to care for their new children.
The judge called for a drumroll before the adoption was finalized.
“I am very impressed. You have a full baseball team, a whole soccer team,” Pickard said. “You are now a forever family.”
The judge walked around from her seat on the bench to bring out her treasure chest for the kids. The two little boys, Jacob and Benjamin, grabbed Hot Wheels cars. Their baby sister, Joselyn, stuck out her hand and squished a blue brain.
“Thank you!” she squealed.
‘My wife is a superhero’
The weekend before the adoption, the other five adopted Hairr kids lined up for their new siblings, each holding a sign that together read, “Will you be our forever sisters and brothers?”
A home video shows the oldest of the new siblings, 12-year-old Kimberly, crying. Before being placed with the Hairrs in 2019, she had been separated from her four biological siblings and had stayed in four other foster care homes. Each Christmas, she asked for just one thing: to be reunited with her brothers and sisters.
In the video, she wrapped her arms around her new dad and all of her siblings.
“This is called a Hairr hug,” Heath Hairr said.
And before the court hearing Tuesday, Aimee Hairr assured Kimberly that the adoption was closure.
“No matter what happens, you’re ours forever, OK?” she said. “And you didn’t lose a mom, you gained a mom.”
The Hairrs have been working on growing their family for more than two decades. Heath and Aimee Hairr have been married since they were teenagers. When they struggled to start their own biological family, they turned to adoption.
They adopted their oldest child, son Nolan, from Russia when he was a baby. He’s now 20. The rest of their kids are from Clark County. Two of their older kids — Alivia, 11, and Landon, 16 — share biological parents.
Aimee Hairr is one of 13 kids, so a large family felt natural to her.
“My wife is a superhero. She has so much love to give,” said Heath Hairr, who is 48. “That’s how this all works.”
Learning through adoption
Outside the courtroom Tuesday, Kimberly hugged her court-appointed special advocate, Andrea Acosta. Acosta was with her throughout her time in the foster care system, and Kimberly chose her new middle name to be Andrea.
“Thank you for opening your heart to me and loving me and trusting me,” Andrea Acosta told her in tears as they hugged. “She says I’m her hero, but really she’s my hero.”
The rest of the kids also got new middle names — most after the social workers who helped them through foster care.
“They impacted the kids, and I want these kids to really understand who really shaped their lives,” Aimee Hairr said.
Their names are Kimberly Andrea Hairr, Genesis Marie Hairr, Benjamin David Hairr, Jacob Heath Hairr and Joselyn Elizabeth Hairr.
When the Hairrs first took in the five siblings in 2019, they learned to adapt to the post-traumatic stress they dealt with from their previous living situation.
They don’t know all the details of the abuse the kids endured, but signs came in other ways. The youngest ones had night terrors, they constantly asked to have a home, and loud noises made them scared.
Benjamin, who is 4, wouldn’t take a bite out of his food unless he first fed his 3-year-old brother, Jacob.
One time, when Aimee Hairr was changing the baby’s diaper, 6-year-old Genesis told her new mom, “I got hurt when I wet my diapers.”
Aimee Hairr said sometimes she has no words when it comes to dealing with what her kids have gone through but is assisting in getting them help through therapy.
“These kids taught me a lot,” she said. “They also taught me to have no expectations. Drop all expectations; they’re going to be good kids.”
Planning for the future
After the adoption ceremony, the new family members arrived at their house in Henderson, which was decorated with balloons and hearts. Big block letters outside the home read: “Officially the Hairrs” and “Adoption Day!”
As they got out of the 12-passenger van, each older kid helped the little ones unbuckle. Genesis ran behind the block letters with a red balloon and smiled.
For Kimberly, the oldest of the newly adopted children, being adopted with her biological siblings is closure.
“I’m glad I get to stay here. We don’t have to worry about anything,” she said. “I’m looking forward to making new memories and a happy, full family.”
Later that afternoon, the family’s pug, Mocha, chased her tail and ran excitedly around the backyard. All the kids put on their swimsuits.
“Me first!” the youngest, Joselyn, screeched as she ran toward the elephant bounce house.
That day, they would celebrate with a bounce house and a pool party. But when they can, they plan to visit Disneyland.
Contact Briana Erickson at berickson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5244. Follow @ByBrianaE on Twitter.
