An adopted teenage boy with no pictures of himself as a baby has posed as a ‘newborn’ in a photo shoot for his photographer mother.
Latrell Higgins, 13, from Crestview, Florida, is captured in softy-lit shots typical of a baby’s first photo shoot.
He asked mom Kelli, 33, to create the album in lieu of any photographs of himself as an infant.
Touching moment: Latrell Higgins who had no pictures of himself as a newborn asked his adoptive mother to stage a baby’s first photo shoot with him aged 13
One of the images shows Latrell swaddled in blankets, while another shows just his feet.
Mrs Higgins proudly uploaded the montage to Facebookwith the words: ‘Here’s my sweet not so little newborn! His name is Latrell and weighs 112 lbs.’
The image was posted online on January 29, and has attracted 4,897 ‘Likes’ to date.
One commentator wrote: ‘This is the most touching thing I have seen in a while!!!! I love it.’
Another added: ‘I think it’s really neat that they can celebrate/announce this adoption, no matter the age, the same way that birth parents announce their baby’s birth. I think he is a good sport.’
Lost memories: Latrell has lots of pictures of himself as a teenager but none as a baby
Mrs Higgins, who welcomed Latrell and his younger sister Chanya into their home two years ago, told Today.com: ‘I think it’s really hard to have children and not know what they looked like when they were younger.’
She and her husband Daniel, 35,already had five biological children and were expecting a sixth one, but admits she had a yearning to adopt.
‘I was very sad too because I didn’t have any photos of him as a baby either’
‘These children, once they get past a certain age, they don’t find homes and they age out of foster care,’ she said.
‘They have to figure out the world on their own and there’s no one to go back to as an adult. Where do you go for Christmas? It’s just horrible, it’s heartbreaking.’
Both Latrell and Chanya, eight, are happy in their new home but sometimes emotional issues crop up.
Recalling how Latrell’s baby photo project came about, Mrs Higgins said that the family were sat around the dinner table when she mentioned that she was preparing for a newborn’s photo session.
Proud mother: Mrs Higgins’ brood pictured on the beach
Latrell mentioned that he didn’t have any pictures of himself when he was born and Mrs Higgins’ 12-year-old daughter Alycia suggested recreating a shoot just for him.
‘I thought it was funny and that it would be a good idea,’ Mrs Higgins said. ‘I was very sad too because I didn’t have any photos of him either.’
The next day she took a series of pictures of Latrell at home and she recalled that they both laughed ‘hysterically’ throughout.
The mother-of-eight now hopes the images will encourage others to adopt older children.
Happy memories: Kelli Higgins (pictured)recreated a baby’s first photo shoot with Latrell and she said they both laughed ‘hysterically’ throughout
Talking about reaction she’s had so far she said: ‘[Parents] come to me telling me that they were thinking about adopting a baby, but after seeing those photos it’s changed their minds and they want to adopt an older child.’
In 2011 – the latest year for which detailed statistics are available – there were more than 104,000 children in foster care who were waiting to be adopted.
The average age of those waiting to find adoptive homes was seven according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
It is good to help