The first time Delores Saini applied to adopt Nicole, her toddler foster child, the state recommended the adoption.

That was nine years ago.

The same approval has come from the state's Foster Care Review Board twice a year ever since, and the single mom is still waiting to adopt Nicole -- who is now 11.

"They don't have it together," Saini said of the state officials involved with the foster care system -- from the state Department of Social Services to family courts.

In more than a decade, the 67-year-old Columbia resident has adopted six foster children, four of them in South Carolina.

The children, who have special needs, range in age from 5 to 14.

Saini spent three or four years waiting for each case to work through the system before the adoptions became final. The legal intricacies have frustrated her.

"They tell you it doesn't take that long, but it does."

Saini, who has just opened a small shop after running a home desktop publishing company, is looking for a lawyer to help her navigate the legal system.

"Each time we go to court, they set up new rules, and it drags on and on."

That uncertainty also has affected Nicole, Saini said.

"One time she was using my last name in school and I told her, 'You can't do that.'‘

"She's so confused right now."

Saini said waiting to adopt her children has been unreasonable -- but well worth it.

"I would do it again."