Lamont Thomas of Buffalo, New York, has a long history of caring about children who have been abandoned and are in need.
Over the last 20 years, he has fostered dozens of children who were in foster care and has adopted several children who had been in his care. He even has two biological children of his own, so he’s no stranger to knowing how to take care of children.
However, Lamont did something that few people would be willing to do. He adopted five siblings who are all under the age of five so that they could grow up together. The group included Zendaya (5), Jamel (4), Nakia (3), Major (2), and Michaela (1).
When the adoption was finalized in Judge Lisa Rodwin’s courtroom, Lamont said in an interview with Good Morning America he was "fighting to keep back the tears.” In fact, he said that every day, when he thinks about it, his eyes fill with tears because of all that they have endured as a family to make the adoption happen. He said that when he first started taking in foster care children, he did it to help out some friends who had lost their child to the system.
So that their child wouldn’t be with a stranger, he got himself certified as a foster parent, but that was only the beginning of Lamont’s life bringing foster kids home and he’s been doing it ever since.
Lamont adopted twins Germayne and Tremayne in 2007, along with another child named Jamie. Not long after that, he adopted a little boy named German. Eventually, Lamont ended up adopting the first child he ever fostered, Michael.
These five adopted children joined the family that already included Lamont’s daughter LaMonica and son Anthony. His first foster child, Michael, is 27 years old now and told Good Morning America that although Lamont’s home was his third foster home, Lamont’s home ended up being his forever home. Michael added that "Lamont never turned a child away.”
In Lamont’s home, a child either aged out or went back to their own families, Michael said. He seemed determined that any child who came to him would not be going to another foster home. After getting his children (both biological and adopted) raised, Lamont thought his days of being a foster parent were behind him, but because of the five little ones he heard about, he decided to "come out of retirement.” As it turns out, Lamont actually once fostered the siblings’ own father and that’s how he found out these children needed a home.
Lamont then went through the certification process again and applied to foster the children with the intent to adopt.
Before the children got to him, they were in four different homes in four different cities and were separated for more than a year and a half. They ended up being in Lamont’s care for two years before he was able to get the adoption finalized. Is Lamont old and tired? Hardly. He said that kids bring "new energy” to him and he believes they deserve to be raised as siblings, so he made it his fight. Michael Thomas said that taking care of children is his adopted father’s "God-given call” and his sister, LaMonica Thomas, agrees. Michael says that he’d not be the man he is today had it not been for Lamont.
Here’s a great interview with Lamont and all of the kids on Tamron Hall’s daytime talk show. What an inspirational story this is and he is such a remarkable human being.
