Brandon family goes viral on TikTok
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/03/2021 (1682 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
When Charlette and Dan Fontaine completed the adoption process for 12-year-old Bianca, they never expected a TikTok video they made to celebrate would be viewed around the world.
Now, the Brandon family’s eight-second long “gender reveal” style announcement has been seen by more than 1.5 million people around the world on the app.
“I just thought it would go out to the like 100 or so followers I had then, but it exploded,” said Charlette.
Dan and Charlette have been foster parents to Bianca for four years, she said, and the adoption became official on March 5.
The new family couldn’t have a party to celebrate, so instead decided to film a video to make the announcement to family and friends.
The video has a Harry Potter theme, with Bianca wearing a shirt reading “The chosen one.” She pops a balloon containing pink confetti before facing the camera with a sign reading “It’s a girl. A 12-year-old girl.”
The adoption started with a 2017 trip to Niagara Falls, said Charlette. The couple had been waiting on the adoption process, but to that point hadn’t been matched with a child.
“We decided on the last day to throw a loonie into the falls… and said ‘If there’s a child we’ll get a call soon,’ and within 24 hours we had a call for Bianca to come and live with us,” she said.
“That’s why we call her ‘the chosen one,” because she was chosen for us with that loonie.”
The attention the TikTok video is getting is overwhelming, said Charlette. She never thought the short video would explode in popularity as she only uses the app for fun.
Bianca loves how viral the video is going, too.
Asked why she thinks the video has become so popular, Charlette said she thinks it’s because the family shows such genuine joy.
“I think they like to see Bianca be so happy about her adoption. People say they like it because it’s so heartwarming. We’ve had lots of comments saying they enjoyed the smiles and the energy and the joy,” she said.
“If people were looking at adopting, don’t just look at babies because there are older kids who need adoption too. It’s just as special for them as it is a child, a baby coming into your home.”
» dmay@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @DrewMay