Florida Teen Finds a Permanent Home with New Milford Couple

17-year-old James Irish has been in the foster care system since he was just ten months old.

At the age of 13, Irish, originally from Fort Myers, Florida, has lived with Theresa McSpedon and her husband, Scott Haney, in New Milford. On Wednesday, March 3, James Irish legally became their son.

CT Insider tells the story of this New Milford couple who never had any children in the 30 years they've lived together, but now they do. They could quickly turn their story into a made-for-TV movie, except this story is true.

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After his wife's passing, McSpedon's father decided to become a Guardian ad Litem. In Florida, it's when the court appoints someone to watch over a child, and that child was a young boy named James Irish.

When her dad went to pick Irish up from the group home where he was staying in September of 2016, Theresa tagged along. When she met Irish, she told CT Insider that, "something just clicked."

McSpedon and Haney ended up bringing Irish back to Connecticut for the Christmas holiday, but when it was time for him to go back to Florida, they both agreed they couldn't let him go back. Both of them agreed they needed to set the wheels in motion to adopt Irish which eventually became a reality.

For the very first time in his life, James Irish had real parents. After four years of being in McSpedon's care, he was legally declared her son. After the adoption ceremony that was held on Zoom, Theresa McSpedon turned to her son and said,