Andre, 15, is awesome.

Andre, self-described as “awesome,” is a lovely young man of African-American descent. He is very empathetic and loves animals. Andre plays basketball, makes music (especially rap) and enjoys showing off his skills. He also loves to play PlayStation 5 and to be outdoors. Andre likes to make others laugh. He is very good with younger children and enjoys being a leader. He does well in school with the support of an IEP. Andre is smart, enjoys reading and math, and enjoyed participating in school online and with a tutor. He does well when he receives a lot of positive reinforcement.

Andre would love nothing more than to have a loving and devoted two-parent family of any constellation with or without other children in the home. Interested families should have the knowledge about the IEP process and the educational background to assist Andre with his education. He is of African-American descent and interested families need to be firmly committed to providing appropriate ethnic and cultural role models and information with respect to his birth cultures, which includes discussing racism and discrimination. It is also important that interested families are willing to allow him to maintain contact with his birth family, as Andre describes them as important to him and they are important to maintaining a connection to his culture. Currently, he has phone contact with his sister and birthparents and likely in-person visits once a month.

Can I adopt?

If you’re at least 18 years old, have a stable source of income and room in your heart, you may be a perfect match to adopt a waiting child.

Adoptive parents can be single, married or partnered; experienced or not; renters or homeowners; LGBTQ+ singles and couples. As an adoptive parent, you won’t have to pay any fees; adoption from foster care is completely free in Massachusetts.

The process to adopt a child from foster care includes training, interviews and home visits to determine if adoption is right for you. These steps will help match you with a child or sibling group that your family will fit well with.

To learn more about adoption from foster care, call the Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE) at (617) 964-6273 or go to mareinc.org.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Monday’s Child: Andre, 15, is awesome, empathetic and loves animals