My husband and I adopted a boy from foster care. He was 3, now 25, and had been in the foster system since he was about 1 1/2, in several different homes. We told him we loved him all the time, he would say he loved dad, but not me, for a few months. It was about a 1 1/2 years before the termination of the parental rights and we adopted him. He would always say that he didn’t love me and I just said that’s okay I love you anyway. He finally said he did love me and was just kidding before. 💜