Own youth is reason for KZK broker Alex to become a foster father
Anyone who ever watches ‘Buy without Looking’ knows Alex van Keulen (54) as the always cheerful real estate agent. On Monday evening he was a guest at ‘Jinek’ and shows a different side of himself when he talks about the choice to take in foster children.
Besides Alex, Paul and Kim are also guests in ‘Jinek’. The couple has three foster children and, with ‘their episode’ of ‘Buying without Watching’, resulted in considerably more registrations with Pleegzorg Nederland. In this episode Alex tells for the first time that he is also a foster parent. As an ambassador for Foster Care Netherlands, he underlines how important it is that more people sign up to become a foster parent.
Many possibilities
What many people don’t know, he says, is that there are many options: ‘You can opt for long-term foster care, but you can also opt for weekend care, for example. Or crisis care. For example, I have a 16-year-old foster son who comes once a month for a weekend.’
Read also: Crisis foster parent Esther: ‘After her departure I really experienced a period of mourning’
When Eva asks him why he chose to be a foster parent, Alex says that this is something personal and has to do with his own childhood: ‘I come from a family of ten children. I am one of the youngest and never knew my father. My mother was unable to take care of me. So I can put myself in the shoes of a child who cannot rely on his parents.’
Five kids in fifteen years
Foster parenting only really came into the picture when Alex met his wife. He says: ‘Then I knew I wanted it, she has a heart the size of a skippy ball. She is really very social and actually we started from that moment. First with a cousin from a family circle. When that went well, we decided to take in more children. We have now had five children in fifteen years.’
Source: Eva Jinek
