21 Children Adopted In Courthouse Ceremony

It was an emotional union between kids and their new parents as 21 children were adopted out of El Paso’s foster care system on Saturday morning.

In celebration of National Adoption Day, the county courthouse preformed an adoption ceremony, where people like Mark and Myra Cardenas could be found embracing the newest member of their family.

“There’s no way to put it into words,” said Mark Cardenas. “He’s the best thing that’s happened to us.” There’s no mistake, Mark has the new-dad glow.

“(Anthony) has been a a blessing and actually changed our lives a lot,” said Mark. He and his wife, Myra, welcomed 21-month-old Anthony into the Cardenas clan Saturday morning.

“All of our hard work has finally paid off,” said Myra. She said the arduous year and a half adoption process was well worth it to finally take home little Anthony.

“It’s been a very tough journey for us, for a year and a half, but it’s all worth while,” said Myra.

The Cardenas’s joy was shared with other families taking part in the adoption ceremony. Child Protective Services spokesman Luis Zamarripa said the stability of family life is something all children deserve.

“We want to be able to offer our children a permanent, life long, family,” said Zamarripa.

Mark looks forward to spending a lifetime with his son.

“(I want to) see him grow up with his family, just grow up, go to school … maybe get married and then start his family,” said Mark.

Zamarripa encourages anyone considering adoption to look into adopting through the state’s foster care program. As of Saturday morning 96 foster kids are still waiting for families.