Wednesday’s Child: ‘I want someone who can care for me forever’

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Right now there are thousands of Utah children living in state custody. Most of them are not babies. In fact, the majority are boys and they are in desperate to find families. When you’re 12 years old, the world is your playground.

“Whoa, a rocket,” Ayden yelled as he took off across the room.

For Ayden, the Leonardo Museum might as well be the coolest playground in town.

“I like anything about science,” he said. “I like the way it works.”

He reads far above grade level and is always looking to learn more.

“It’s like a mystery of how everything began, and I just want to find out that mystery,” he said.

Ayden lives in foster care.

“I’ve lived there for over a year now,” he said.

In that time, he has had some major milestones that most kids celebrate with family.

“I had my 11th birthday at foster care, the place where all the kids go that people don’t want.”

Right now, Ayden likes going to school, even if it is a little lonely.

“I don’t really have that many friends at school, but I really don’t mind,” he said. “I just stick to myself and go wherever.”

However if he could choose, he would choose to go and join a family.

“I want someone who can care for me forever,” he said.

The little boy who loves a science mystery isn’t so sure what his future will hold.

“I could be one of those kids who don’t get adopted,” he said.

He has hopes that a family will find him and see a little boy who just needs to be loved.

“It’s not what you see on the outside,” he said. “It’s what you see on the inside.”

To learn more about Ayden, contact The Utah Adoption Exchange at 801-265-0444 or on the website.