Vandergrift sisters make National Adoption Day a family affair

It was a family affair Wednesday for Vandergrift sisters Kelly and Nicole Dunmire, who created new families on National Adoption Day in Westmoreland County, giving two children a loving home and stability in their lives.

“I prayed for what was best for Katerina. I prayed for what was in her best interest,” said Nicole Dunmire, 41, shortly after Westmoreland County Family Court Judge Justin Walsh approved her adoption of 5-year-old Katerina.

Kelly Dunmire, 40, won approval to adopt Xavier, 3. She said it was her third adoption of children for whom she had been a foster mother.

“He completes our family. I told Sue (former caseworker Sue Reese) he was going to be my final placement,” said Kelly Dunmire, who has been Xavier’s foster mother since February.

The Dunmires adopted two of the 12 children who were approved for adoption Wednesday, creating 10 new families. In approving the adoptions, Walsh said that he had seen that the Dunmires have a lot of support for the children they were adopting.

The two Dunmire sisters have adopted five children, and Nicole Dunmire’s stepdaughter, Mercedes Dunmire, has adopted a girl.

The parents of Kelly and Nicole, Jim and Susan Dunmire of Vandergrift, have been foster parents to about 15 children over the past 21 years.

Jim Dunmire said they became involved in being foster parents because a nephew was in foster care many years ago.

Kelly Dunmire said she knew from the first day Xavier was placed in her home in February that she was going to adopt him.

“I have all boys. I am a ‘boy mom,’ ” she said following the hearing.

Kelly Dunmire said the adoption process has been significant to her on a personal level.

“Without the adoption process, I would not be able to have the title of mom,” she said.