Eight children in Metro Detroit have new, permanent families as of Friday, after a batch of adoptions were finalized at the Third Circuit Court in Detroit in honor of Michigan Adoption Day. The cases ranged from infant adoptions to a stepparent adoption and a guardianship adoption, each one capping off a different family's long road through the courts.
Among those families was Loretta Duncan-Brantley, who finalized the adoption of her son Silas, according to CBS News. Duncan-Brantley had served as Silas's guardian before formally adopting him, and she said she had been in the adoption process for well over a year before Friday's finalization.
Judge Karen Braxton, who serves on the Third Circuit Court, said every adoption case moves at its own pace, but the process typically takes about two years from start to finish. She also noted that her juvenile division handles a wide range of work beyond adoption finalizations, including termination of parental rights cases and matters involving children getting in trouble with the law.
What Counts as an Adoption in Michigan
The adoptions finalized Friday fell into a few different categories recognized under Michigan law. The Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange describes state and court ward adoptions as those involving children in foster care who have been legally freed for adoption, while direct placement adoptions are ones in which birth parents themselves select the adoptive family, per the organization's own guidance.
Statewide figures on foster care and adoption readiness vary depending on the year and source, and none of the available numbers reflect 2026 directly. The Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange has reported that in 2024, roughly 10,000 children were in foster care statewide, with about 2,200 legally free for adoption and around 200 without an identified adoptive family. A separate 2025 state proclamation put the number of children in foster care at nearly 10,000, with approximately 1,800 legally ready for adoption, many of whom had already been matched with families, including relatives.
A Tradition Across Metro Detroit Courts
Friday's event continues a yearly tradition of marking Michigan Adoption Day with court finalizations across the region. Last November, four families grew through adoptions at a Wayne County event, including the Vannatter family, who adopted two children, among them a girl named Gabriella, according to WXYZ. Third Circuit Court Chief Judge Patricia Perez Presard said at that event that she hoped occasions like Adoption Day would encourage more people across Michigan to consider adopting.
The year before that, the Third Circuit Court finalized three adoptions for Wayne County families during the 22nd annual Michigan Adoption Day, the station reported. One mother, Lauren Kolnik, said her family had cared for a daughter named Olivia since she was five weeks old, but the adoption process still took three years to complete. Another family, the Streets, adopted 18-month-old Oliver after fostering him for most of his young life.
Each case carries its own timeline and its own story, but the outcome Friday was the same for all eight Detroit-area families: adoptions finalized, and children with a permanent place to call home.
