After they got married, Stephanie and T.J. Bishop couldn’t decide how many kids they wanted.
“We always just said ‘some,’” Stephanie Bishop explained.
They got some — and some more, with four adopted boys and plans for a fifth adoption next spring: their 8-month-old foster son, Andrew.
Unable to give birth, the Ariel mom said she always wanted a big family and a way to provide a haven for special-needs children. Eleven-year-old Taylor is the couple’s latest addition.
Stephanie Bishop, 36, and her children, Tylor, 12, Travis, 11, Taylor, Alex, 8, and foster child Andrew, were at a party Wednesday at Vancouver’s First United Methodist Church. Dad T.J. Bishop couldn’t make it because of his duties as a paramedic. The celebration was in observance of National Adoption Day and included some of the families who gave 58 foster children permanent homes this year in Clark County.
National Adoption Day was founded in 2000 to raise awareness of the thousands of foster children awaiting permanent homes, according to Lorrie Thompson, communications director for the state Administrative Office of the Courts.
A record number of foster children, 1,701, were adopted into new families statewide between July 2008 and June 2009, up from 1,177 the previous year.
Bill Peresa, administrator for Vancouver’s Department of Children and Family Services’ office, attributed the hike to a “renewed focus” of moving foster children eligible for adoption into permanent homes within the state’s two-year mandate for placement.
“We’re trying to honor that mandate,” Peresa said. “We don’t think it’s right for children to linger in foster homes.”
The Bishops made 11-year-old Taylor the latest addition to their family Friday in Clark County Superior Court.
Three of the boys — Tylor, Travis and Alex — are biological brothers. They were adopted in Pierce County before the family moved to Ariel, near Woodland, in 2004. The family started with Tylor as a foster child when he was 4. Things expanded.
When the couple decided to adopt Tylor, social workers encouraged the couple to take in his two brothers, who were in other foster homes. The Bishops quickly fell in love with Alex and Travis, as well.
“We wanted them to be together because it’s better for them,” Stephanie Bishop said.
After moving to Ariel, the Bishops continued serving as foster parents, and earned a reputation of being able to handle special-needs children. Stephanie Bishop has a background in education, with a specialty in children with behavioral problems.
This has proved handy with Taylor, who has autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Though a handful, Taylor is just like the rest: He fits, Stephanie Bishop said.
And all the boys feel the same way about mom and dad.
“We love them and they love us,” she said. “We ask them, too: Do you want to be a part of this family?”
Could the Bishop family expand even more?
“Well, there’s always the space issue,” Stephanie Bishop said with a wry smile.
