Results: Creating The Family You Desire

Dancing with the Stars pro, Louis van Amstel and husband Joshua Lancaster knew when they married, they wanted children. However, right from the start, they decided they were going to adopt older children, rather than a baby. They adopted both of their sons from the foster care system at 10 years old — Daniel, now 14, from Colorado and Jonny, now 13, from Nevada in 2020.Van Amstel, who founded the dance fitness program LaBlast, hopes his story will inspire others to think about adopting older children. "There are so many kids in foster care that all need a loving home," he says. "And they will change your life for the better." Do you know someone, perhaps yourself, who adopted older children?

Von Amstel admits their choice to adopt older children was not entirely "unselfish". "Everyone wants [to adopt] the babies but we didn't. My love language is traveling. With a baby, for the first three years, forget any traveling!" van Amstel said. "Jonny had never seen an ocean in his life. For a family like ours that loves to travel and has been all over the world, I want my kids to have that experience." Do you agree it doesn't matter the reasons you have to adopt older children, as long as you can give a good home to a child?

This video shows the thoughts of older children in the foster care system, on their hopes and dreams of being adopted. After watching this video, do you feel adopting older children is a worthwhile undertaking for parents who want to adopt a child?