World Adoption Day
Its Significance
World Adoption Day is on Sunday, November 9, 2025. This day is significant because many children around the globe need the care and guidance a loving family can provide.
This day is important to me because I am adopted. I will share my experience towards the end of this article.
However, first, let’s discuss how World Adoption Day became an official observance and the pioneer behind this cause. Then we’ll highlight ways to celebrate, two adopted biblical leaders, and God’s plan for children without families.
World Adoption Day
Hank Fortener Creates World Adoption Day
World Adoption Day is observed annually on November 9th. This day exists to uplift all voices in the adoption community by encouraging them to reflect on their journey and share personal stories.
Individuals are also encouraged to connect with others touched by adoption to continue establishing lasting friendships and support systems.
Interestingly, the reason World Adoption Day was established in 2014 is to support others. According to The Archibald Project, Hank Fortener created the day to gather support for families struggling to pay for adoptions.
After conducting some research, he discovered that World Adoption Day had yet to be established. As a result, he took the initiative to do it himself.
His initiative was fueled by a passion to help children who don’t have mothers or fathers to care for them. His compassion stems from being raised in a family with two biological siblings, eight adopted siblings, and thirty-six foster siblings.
Thirty-three of his foster siblings had medical needs requiring him, his mother, or his sister to provide care for them. By fulfilling these responsibilities at an early age, Hank learns how to be empathetic towards the needy.
Sadly, he also learned the urgent need for adoption every time the foster care system failed his family by removing a child from their home.
Thankfully, God uses this pain to prepare Hank for his purpose, growing up to become
- The host of the Typically Hazardous podcast.
- The founder of AdoptTogether.org.
- A teaching pastor at Moasic Church.
- A business consultant.
- An adoption advocate.
Through AdoptTogether, Hank has helped 5,000 families raise $40 million to adopt children from over sixty countries.
Ways to Celebrate World Adoption Day
You can help fulfill Hank’s mission by celebrating World Adoption Day in a variety of ways, including
- Becoming an ambassador.
- donating to organizations, individuals, or families desiring to adopt children.
- Drawing a smiley face on your hand and posting a picture of it on social media.
- Praying for children in need of homes and those considering adoption.
- Serving at a pregnancy crisis center.
- Studying and sharing the stories of celebrities who are adopted.
God Cares About His Children
Bible Examples of Adoption
Along with learning about adopted celebrities, you can also learn about how adoption impacts two well-known biblical leaders. Moses’ mother hides and sends him floating up the Nile River in a basket in an attempt to spare him from being killed by Egyptian oppressors. While floating up the river, Moses experiences adoption when Pharaoh’s daughter rescues and raises him as her son.
Similarly, Hadassah (also known as Esther) becomes an adoptee after her parents die. Instead of allowing his cousin Hadassah to endure neglect as an orphan, Mordecai chooses to raise her.
While Mordecai and Pharaoh’s daughter make a noble decision to raise children who aren’t theirs through natural birth, there is a deeper spiritual significance behind their decision. The Bible proves this as Moses and Hadassah grow up and become the individuals God uses to rescue the Israelites from their oppressors.
Through Hadassah’s adoption, God proves his sovereignty by allowing her to be in the right place, at the right time, to fulfill his plans for his chosen people.
Moredicai affirms this truth, suggesting to Hadassah that perhaps God allows her to become queen for such a time as this. “For such a time as this” refers to the opportunity Hadassah has as Queen of Persia to deliver the Jews from Haman’s wicked plot to destroy them.
Likewise, God uses Moses’ adoption to demonstrate his sovereignty and prove himself as a faithful promise-keeper. God does this when commissioning Moses to rescue the Israelites from Pharaoh after hearing their cries and remembering his covenant with their forefathers.
God and Humanity’s Role in Adoption
Along with affirming God as a promise keeper to the Israelites, scripture also reveals his concern for the fatherless. In fact, God promises to
- Become a father to the fatherless (Psalm 68:5).
- Care for the fatherless and the orphan (Psalm 27:1; Psalm 68:1).
- Help the fatherless in their time of need (Psalm 10:14; Acts 20:35).
- Provide justice for and uphold the fatherless (Psalm 146:9; Isaiah 1:17).
- Rescue the fatherless from trouble (Job 29:12).
In addition to rescuing the fatherless from trouble, God also redeems us from the clutches of sin and death. This redemption happens when God reveals who Jesus Christ is to us and we accept him as Lord and Savior.
Once we accept that Jesus is the only way to salvation, the Father adopts and acknowledges us as his children. Being adopted into God’s family makes us heirs whose lives are now led by the Holy Spirit.
Being heirs also allows us to share in Jesus Christ’s glory and suffering.
As God’s children, he expects us to have the same concern for the fatherless as he does. Therefore, God wants his children to
- Care for their relatives who are fatherless (1 Timothy 5:8).
- Provide justice for them (Psalm 82:3-4; Isaiah 1:17).
- Treat the fathless fairly (Exodus 22:22-24; Jeremiah 7:5-7).
- Visit them (James 1:27).
World Adoption Day Testimony
Florence Preston Adopts Me
An individual who understands God’s mandate for those who don’t live with their biological parents is Florence Preston. For 25 years, Florence worked for Helping Children Grow (HCG), a foster care agency in the DC area.
Through HCG, she became the foster mom of several children, including four who still call her mom today. She also adopted three special needs children: Charmika Carter-Preston, Donte’ Moses Preston, and me, Xavier Scott Preston.
Florence and her husband, Kenneth, decided to adopt us before retiring from HGC in January 2000. Years later, when I asked my mom about the adoption, she said it was simply a calling God laid on her heart that had to be fulfilled. The adoption became official in March 2002, a few weeks before my tenth birthday.
Adoption Trauma
While an incredible gift, adoption was bittersweet for me at the time. The reason is that Kenneth and Florence chose to separate and later divorce a few months before retirement. Consequently, Florence relied on assistance from an aide named Ms. Tony, occasional family support, and prayer to raise us.
This was bittersweet because I lacked the necessary male presence a young boy needs in the home. Adoption was bittersweet for me because this was the second time I’d been adopted. The first time occurred in 1998 when a man (whose name I won’t mention) adopted me through HCG at six years old.
I lived with him for about a year or so. While the adoption started great, I endured abuse in his custody and was removed from the home in 1999. That experience, along with my adopted father not being a consistent presence, made it hard for me to trust male figures.
I also struggled with feeling unloved and unwanted because I knew my biological mother and relatives. At the time, I couldn’t understand why she didn’t want me, but she kept my siblings
As a result, I held a lot of anger in my heart towards her. I also struggled (and still struggle) with acceptance issues. This is because of insecurities that cause me to question whether people truly love me.
Adoption Testimony
While these insecurities may just be my negative thoughts, I’m positive that being adopted is proof of God’s love for me. God showed his love by blessing me with an incredible mom in Florence, four adopted siblings, and four foster siblings.
He also blessed me to have a great relationship with my biological family and relatives. I’m blessed to be called bro and old man by my four biological siblings and to communicate with my biological mom, Tara, regularly.
God also cleansed my heart of anger toward my mom, Tara, when I surrendered my life to Christ at the age of 16. God helped me realize her decision to put me up for adoption was selfless. Only a parent who truly loves their child could make such a decision, and for that, I am eternally grateful.
If you’re someone who’s considering adopting a child, I encourage you to do so. Let my story be a testimony that God will equip you with the love, wisdom, and help necessary to raise a child in ways that glorify him. By faith, this child will become a vessel God uses for his glory when they surrender to his will.
Thank you for taking the time to read stories of faith through the Electi A Deo Experience. Feel free to leave a comment below and share my content with everyone you know. Be blessed!
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