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Single dad who fostered 30 kids adopts 5 siblings under 5 years old

BUFFALO, New York — A single father who has taken in dozens of foster children over 20 years is now a proud parent of 12 after adopting five siblings.

Lamont Thomas of Buffalo, New York, adopted siblings Zendaya, 5, Jamel, 4, Nakia, 3, Major, 2 and Michaela, 1, inside Judge Lisa Rodwin's courtroom on Oct. 17.

"I was fighting to keep back the tears," Thomas told "Good Morning America." "Every day I think about it, my eyes swell up. All that we endured to make this happen, it was something."

Thomas has fostered more than 30 children since 2000. He's now dad to 10 adopted kids and two biological kids.

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"In the beginning, I was helping out some friends. They had lost their child to the system," Thomas said. "I went on and got certified and became a foster parent. I haven't stopped since."

In 2007, Lamont Thomas adopted twins Germayne and Tremayne and another child, Jamie. Shortly after, he adopted another child, German.

After those four adoptions, he adopted the first child he fostered, Michael.

Those five adopted children joined Thomas' biological son, Anthony, and daughter, LaMonica, to make one big family.

"He was my third foster home and it ended up being my forever home," Michael Thomas, 27, told "GMA." "He [knew] my biological parents."

"Lamont never turned [a child] away," he added. "They either aged out or went back home to their own families."

Read more of this story from Good Morning America here