Local Girl with Special Needs Finds Forever Home as Classmates Look On

A local girl with special needs was formally adopted today and her family invited her classmates from Coletta Day School to watch the special moment.

Abby was officially adopted by Anne Novotny Monday.

Novotny is a pretty amazing mother already.

She has seven other adopted children, many with special education needs.

Now Abby makes eight and that's pretty great.

"She said I'm officially going to be a Novotny, finally," Anne told CBS 58 News. "That's all it is. She was already part of the family. But now she is officially family."

Abby goes to Saint Coletta Day School and was happy many classmates took her up on her invitation to see the adoption for themselves.

Abby has been in Treatment Foster Care through SaintA for about two years and she is not the first foster child Anne Novotny has adopted. In fact, Anne has adopted 7 other children. She is also very active in supporting St. Coletta, a nonprofit, nonsectarian educational program for students with intellectual disabilities.

SaintA is a nonprofit, nonsectarian human services organization, advancing foster care, education and mental health services for Southeast Wisconsin and beyond. We acknowledge that past trauma affects behavior and employ the most cutting-edge brain research to create interventions that empower children, families and adults and help them lead productive lives.