(NewsNation) — After raising four biological children, Shannon and Troy Pinkerton adopted six young men who all have disabilities.
The couple’s journey to adoption started in 2009, when the opportunity arose to foster Joey, a 10-year-old with Down syndrome, People reports.
“There’s just a lot of kids in the foster care system that need homes. It’s harder to place kids that have disabilities, and it just started from there,” Shannon Pinkerton said. “My son Cody found Joey on the internet and begged us and it just kind of rolled from there.”
Since Joey’s adoption, the Pinkertons have adopted Devlin, 18; Julian, 20; Cameron, 23; Anthony, 25; and Tracee, 28.
Shannon chronicles the young men’s adventures on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. She said it only took about one year to gain 1.2 million TikTok followers, and their viral videos resonate with thousands of people around the world.
“A lot of people have stigmas about kids with special needs. We get letters from parents that said, ‘I see hope for my child who’s 5 and has Down syndrome, I can see what their life is going to be like as an adult, and I know that we can do this.’ We get letters like that all the time,” Shannon said. “We just want to bring awareness for people that haven’t been around anybody with disabilities.”