Cheyenne Couple to Receive ‘Angels in Adoption’ Award

Melinda and Melissa Stevens of Cheyenne will be honored with the 2019 Angels in Adoption award for Wyoming, the Department of Family Services announced Friday.

The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute's Angels in Adoption​ program honors a wide spectrum of individuals and organizations making extraordinary contributions in adoption, permanency and child welfare.

The Stevens are the first award recipients from Wyoming, and say they realized they wanted to continue parenting when their oldest daughter was becoming a teenager.

Within the past decade, Melinda and Melissa have permanently expanded their family size by six children through adoption.

Regardless of the traumas their children have faced in their biological homes -- from shaken baby syndrome to a very rare chromosomal disorder -- the Stevens love their children.

They acknowledge it's not always easy, but say "each day with the family is better than the day before."

The Stevens will travel to Washington, D.C. to participate in the CCAI leadership program and celebratory gala on Nov. 13-14.

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