JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The coronavirus may have delayed or changed how we do a lot of things. So one First Coast couple had to get creative in their plans to adopt a child Friday by getting a judge to video chat with them.
“We would have much rather been at the courthouse with Judge David Gooding, but this was the next best thing,” Mendy Nancarrow said.
It was an early morning video conference taking the place of a normal court proceeding. Mendy Nancarrow explains her family was meant to grow and nothing was going to keep them from adopting 18-month-old Beckett.
He’s been with Mendy Nancarrow and her husband Lance Nancarrow since he was 2 days old. He's one of the many children the couple has fostered and the second they adopted. Baby Colby officially joined the family in 2017.
“We’re just thrilled to make it happen during the pandemic, they could have canceled or postponed and we are very appreciative they didn’t,” Lance Nancarrow said.
While the courts are limited in what they can do while closed for coronavirus precautions, Mendy Nancarrow said this was a unique way to keep the system going: A video taken during the adoption conference.
Gooding can be heard saying he wished he could shake the hands of the couple. He couldn’t be reached for comment.
And that traditional picture with the judge after an adoption – like this one from a couple years ago will have to wait. But not the love this family has to give.
“There’s never a dull moment, there’s never a dull moment in our house,” the Nancarrows said.