Adoptive ‘Parent Partners’ share an incredible connection

Danita Hardin and Ryan Ferguson aren’t your traditional foster parents.

Danita Hardin is a single foster mom who started fostering children when she was only 23 years old. Ryan Ferguson is a single foster father who waited to foster until later in his life.

Danita has raised several of her own children to adulthood. Ryan does not have any biological children but has worked with children his entire life.

Today, they share an important connection; the children they each adopted are siblings, and they work together to keep that bond alive.

Danita and Ryan fostered four siblings between them, and when they became open for adoption, both Danita and Ryan were more than happy to make their connection with these children permanent.

Danita adopted three girls, and Ryan adopted a boy. They describe themselves as “parent partners,” meeting for barbeques, birthday parties, sporting events, and sending each other pictures when they can’t see their siblings in person.

Both are still foster parents today and have a lot to share about their journeys.

“I foster because I want to give back to the kids here in my surrounding communities. There are so many children right in my back yard that just need some consistency, love, and nurturing, sometimes for a short period of time, and sometimes longer.”

“I have been fostering since 2007; however, I have been working with children all my life. Fostering has been a great experience because you expect to teach the kids about living and often times they each us about loving, caring, and new experiences. Words of wisdom to other foster parents; treat the children in your home as you would your biological child, be fair, love them as hard as you can, and just remember that you are possibly making life long connections.”

– Ryan Ferguson

“‘Children are the most precious treasure a community can possess, for in them are the promise and guarantee of the future… They are a trust no community can neglect… An atmosphere needs to be maintained in which children feel that they belong to the community and share in its purpose.'”

“This quote, I think, sums up both my reason for being a foster/adoptive parent, as well as the way I interact with my foster and adoptive children. I began my journey as a foster parent more than 20 years ago when I was only 23.

My first placement was a 12-year-old who insisted on calling me ‘mom’ which raised a lot of questions. In the past 20 plus years of fostering children, I have played a part in raising more than 30 children. I have also met some wonderful people, including my ‘co-parent’ Ryan.”

– Danita Hardin

Both Ryan and Danita are foster parents through For Children’s Sake of Virginia, a local therapeutic foster care agency. Between the two of them, they have had more than 20 foster child placements, and For Children’s Sake of Virginia is incredibly grateful for them.

Interested in learning more about becoming a foster parent?

Anyone older than 21 years old who is financially stable, has space in their home for a child, a vehicle to transport the child in, and love and patience in their heart, is welcome to apply.

FCSVA offers free training and approval to foster parents.

This includes single parents, LGBTQ+ parents, adults who have not had children before, parents who rent an apartment, those with medical conditions, and more

Every child has a different need for their foster parents, and we work to count you in, not out, as a foster parent.

You can call 703-817-9890 or visit fcsva.org today to learn more.