For Children of Foster Carers Month, we want to share the experience of one of our staff members who grew up in a fostering family.
michael's story
Hello everyone, my name is Michael and I am a Service Coordinator for asphaleia care.
My fostering experience began when I was 11 years old. My best friend at this time disclosed to me that he and his three younger siblings were being sexually abused by their father.
I remember everything about this day, where we were, what we were doing, the feeling of shock when he told me. I remember telling him it was a good thing that he had told me, and that I would make sure he and his brothers and sister would be ok, but that I would have to tell my mother.
He was taken straight into care, and my mother and father decided they would apply to become his foster parents. Just a few months later that’s exactly what happened. He was the first of 20 foster brothers and sisters I would eventually grow up/live with over the next 15 years, and he lived with us from 11–17.

Stories, experiences, moments... I have many! And I treasure them all, even the moments when we argued and wound each other up, just as normal brothers and sisters do.
One of the most positive moments I would like to share, is when my most recent foster brother, said this to me…
“Thank you, bro, thank you and Tim (My older brother by 10 years) for being my brothers and not treating me like so many other people have, thank you for being you, and being there for me, it really saved my life, I love you man.”
This is the GOLD! And it brings a tear to my eye just writing about it now. He had been through so much, as all children that need to go into care have, he did not come to us until he was 15 and had been in the care system since he was just 10 (I was in my mid 20’s when he moved in with us)
Various children’s / foster homes, being moved from pillar to post, around the country and back again meant it was super hard for him to trust anyone, and even harder for him to express his emotions openly.
With open, honest, loving care, we got there! Never giving up on him, even when he may have reacted and said and done, some not so nice things, we stuck by him.
Now in his 30’s, he’s a different person to the broken boy who walked in our door over 20 years ago, we are super close still to this day, and we refer to each other as brother, not foster brother.
For me, my mother fostering was an amazing experience, filled with highs, lows, and difficult times. But I would not change any of it for the world, as I now have an even bigger family than I did before.