These 25 heartwarming pictures of children on the day they were adopted are peak wholesomeness

Editor's note: This article was originally published on July 9, 2022. It has since been updated.

A few years ago, the nonprofit Together We Rise came up with a heartwarming way to shine a new light on foster care adoption. The organization—which aims to improve the lives of children in the U.S. foster care system by offering resources such as school supplies, bicycles, educational programs, and even college scholarships—launched an Instagram series featuring foster kids on the day they were adopted into their "forever families." While most of them show the kids standing next to signs announcing how much time they spent in foster care before being adopted, the bright smiles on the little ones' faces are what steal the show.

"With so much negative news surrounding foster care we just want highlight the positive with amazing adoptions that are happening every day," TWR Executive Director, Gianna Dahlia, told The Huffington Post. "There are many negative stereotypes surrounding kids in foster care, but they are just children who want loving families -- and there are families out there fighting for them. We just want to inspire those families either going the process or considering the adoption process that it can be done and it is worth it." Apart from providing resources to foster kids, Together We Rise also shares crucial information about fostering and adopting kids, including raising awareness on the procedures through volunteers and foster parents.

"We've had thousands of people reach out to us and either say they are considering being a foster parent or adopting because of the photos," the non-profit told Bored Panda. "Every day we have people reaching out to us wanting to learn more about the adoption process or what they can do to help. We even inspired thousands of professional photographers who wanted to donate their services to families adopting. With an overwhelming amount of inquiries, we posted an application for any interested photographers and on the first day we had over 5000 professionals sign up."

Scroll down to see 25 incredibly wholesome adoption photos shared by Together We Rise:

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