An elderly couple from Allentown, Pennsylvania are preparing to welcome their 72nd foster child this year.
Thomas and Ann Rose, a couple from Allentown, Pennsylvania, are well into retirement age: Thomas is in his 70s, and Ann is over 80. Yet, rather than relaxing by the beach, the couple is preparing to become parents. They’ve already done it more than 70 times.
No, they’re not an even more extreme version of the Duggars: The generous couple has been welcoming in foster children for the last 15 years, since their own biological children grew up and left home.
“We have children. We have grandchildren,” Ann Rose told local news channel WFMZ. “They were getting older, didn’t have any babies, so we thought we’d do this.”
The Roses are providing a much-needed service: In Pennsylvania alone, there are over 27,000 children in need of foster care. Most are at least a few years old, and many are teenagers. Many have physical or mental disabilities. But no matter what their situation or history, they all need a loving family to help them on their journeys to adulthood.
Although some of the children surely haven’t been easy to care for, the most difficult part of the process, says Ann Rose, is giving the child up.
“Part of your responsibility is to take care of them while you have them, and the giving them up part, while it is hard, it’s something you have to do,” said Thomas Rose.
And while most couples their age are enjoying their golden years on the golf course or RVing cross-country, the Roses say there’s nothing else they’d rather be doing.
“It will be the time of your life because they need to have a safe home,” said Ann Rose. “They need a home with structure. They need to have a home with boundaries and they need to have a home with love.”
Want to become a foster parent? Check out your state’s requirements and resources here.