PITTSFIELD, Mass. —— Michelle Nichols remembers the phone call.

 

She was approved to adopt the child she had been fostering for four years. It began seven years ago, when she and her husband first decided they wanted to be adoptive parents. One of her students needed a home and the couple began to foster. Four years later, she was approved by the Department of Children and Families.

 

"It was a long journey. Our journey was four years for our first adoptive child," Nichols said. "Adoption is a wonderful thing. You face every obstacle with your child together."

 

It isn't an easy journey, she said. She remembers the feelings and concern. What to do if she sees the biological mother in the store? What if there is a problem? 

 

But, DFC provided her with what she calls her "A-Team" who continues to this day to field questions and concerns to help her along.

 

"Your journey will be difficult some days," she said. 

 

After the adoption day, the new forever family celebrated with a trip to Disney. There her phone rang, flashing a number she recognized fully by then. It was DCF. There is another baby needing a home. She quickly accepted the "gift" the organization was providing her.

 

In Berkshire Juvenile Court on Friday, seven other children and new families ended their adoption journeys during the annual National Adoption Day celebration. The day, held every November, brings awareness to adoption. Across the state, 130 children were adopted Friday.

 

"We celebrate families. We celebrate children. We celebrate courage and we celebrate love," said Judge Joan McMenemy, one of three judges presiding over the local adoptions Friday.

 

In Berkshire County, there are some 500 children in custody of the Department of Children and Families. Many children are matched up with people whom they know, but are seeking a permanent home. DCF is always looking for families willing to adopt or foster. Nationally, there are some 400,000 in foster care with 100,000 of them awaiting adoption day.

 

"The key is trying to connect those families with these children," McMenemy said. 

 

Annette Santiago, the are program manager for DCF, said there is a process for those looking to adopt and that adoption day is "not really the day you became a family." That happened early on in the process.

 

"These children fell in love with their parents and their parents fell in love with their children," Santiago said.

 

McMenemy said through the process the children deserve credit for being patient throughout it and the parents for being "committed to doing the right thing."

 

"There is a hero in each of use waiting to come out ... the adoptive parents are not just heroes. They are superheroes," McMenemy said.

 

Judges Richard A. Simon and Judith A. Locke also presided over Friday's adoptions.