Adoption Industry Daily Noise News

Open Adoption Legislation May Come to Maine

2005-04-13T12:36:00.000-07:00

A New Hampshire woman learned the name of her birth mother thanks to an Open Adoption Law that allowed her accees to her adoption records. This information helped her learn medical information that proved valuable when she started to show symptoms of the same kind of cancer her birth mother died from. The experience has inspired her to help adoption advocates in the neighboring state of Maine lobby for similar legislation.

The group is currently looking for help from other adoptees and birth parents in hopes of drafting legislation allowing adoptees born in Maine access their original birth certificates. Right now anyone whose adoption was finalized in Maine after to Aug. 8, 1953, is not allowed access their birth records.

A birth parent and adoption advocate working on the Maine open adoption legislations says adoption records began to be sealead in Maine after 1953 to protect birth mothers from the "shame" of having a child without being married and putting it up for adoption. Now that open adoption is encouraged and the stigma is gone he thinks it is time for a change.

Birth Mother Wins Adoption Dispute

2005-03-28T09:36:00.000-08:00

An Illinois County judge ruled last week that a 6-month-old Chicago baby, who was given up to a Utah adoption agency in December (see Blog Dated 1/10/2005), must be reunited with her birth mother .

An Illinois court ruled that when A Cherished Child Adoption Agency Inc. flew the birth mother and baby to Utah and placed the baby with a couple before getting approval in Illinois, it went around rules set up to protect children in domestic adoptions.

The baby's grandmother played a large part in getting the adopted child back and has vowed that she would continue to fight for families in similar situations and called for legislative changes to better protect parents from unscrupulous adoption agencies.

Friends In Adoption - Adoption Tips

2005-03-22T14:21:00.000-08:00

Dawn Smith-Pliner is Director of Friends In Adoption. They have adoption agency offices in both Vermont and New York. The following is Dawn's Semi-Annual letter for the Friends In Adoption Newsletter.

So far 2005 has been the year of health concerns for me. As diagnoses were made, I would go on the Internet to do research on my options. Much to my chagrin I was unable to find the information I was looking for, so I wrote my own article (once I had completed my surgery). In showing the article to the medical professionals that I had worked with, I was asked permission to have the article passed along to all of the doctor’s clients that were faced with the same decisions that I had to make. If the article helps one person feel more empowered with regards to their health care, then I would be thrilled! Now what does this have to do with adoption?

While the majority of you are not preparing for surgery, many of you are preparing yourselves to become families through adoption. And while the internet is flooded with information on adoption, it still may be a challenge to find the exact information you are trying to find. So here is my “Preparation Tips for the Pre and Post Adoption Experience”. You have my permission to pass it along to whomever you think might find it helpful.

Before you adopt:

1. Go into the process as mentally healthy and prepared as possible. Attend adoption conferences, talk to others who have adopted and define your “dream child”. For some folks this phase goes rather quickly for others it may take longer. But please don’t get “stuck in the muck”. If you individually or as a couple are certain that you want to adopt and you have been researching the process for over a year then you might want to work with a professional that can move you along.
2. Before you commit to working with and agency or with an attorney do a “dry run”. Imagine yourself getting the call from the agency or attorney letting you know that your child is waiting for you. Would you be prepared emotionally, financially and spiritually to move ahead? If not, what would you need to feel prepared?
3. From the start of your adoption to the completion of it – review all paperwork carefully and make copies of it all to file in your safety deposit box. If you are in doubt with any of it, have it reviewed by your attorney. No one wants surprises in the middle of their adoption journey!
4. Enjoy your adoption pregnancy. For me, this meant going to tag sales on weekends and buying baby clothes that I kept tucked away in my bottom dresser drawer. Others have bought children’s furniture and put it on lay away until it needed to be used. If appropriate, think of names for your child; identify a pediatrician or family doctor, take a parenting class, research childcare or school arrangements, look for announcement cards. One word of caution here – if you are involved in an adoption that includes a “risk” period then you might want to think twice about who you tell. In the even an adoption does not move ahead to a placement you will need to take time to care for yourself/yourselves and not the rest of the world.
5. Think about whom you want with you when your child arrives home. Do you feel that you will need a few days alone before you welcome your friends and family into your home…or do you feel a need to have a family member or close friend to help you adjust to being a parent? Those that love you like to know how they can best be there for you.
6. Visit your library and stock up on parenting books and videos. Make sure your camera is in working order. Purchase a photo album or two or three…
7. Nurture yourself/yourselves – your adoption journey may be stressful. Take time to exercise and smell the roses!
8. Consider joining an adoption support group so that you have a designated time to share your adoption journey experience with people that understand the language of adoption.
9. And most importantly – trust the people that you are working with to help you with your adoption. If your half full glass starts to look half empty it’s time to call the professionals that you have employed to let them know that you are struggling. They should be able to help you re-focus your energy in a positive way. Know in your heart that you WILL become a family through adoption!

After you Adopt:

1. Celebrate – you’ve worked hard to become a family through adoption.
2. Breathe deeply as you adjust to your new role as a parent – guaranteed that there will be days of energy and days of exhaustion and lots of adjustments to be made.
3. Adoption is a life long process – don’t forget to record your memories. If you are involved in an adoption that includes contact with your child’s birth family, pass along your child’s progress to the birth family. Many of our birth and adoptive families have found that the internet provides the perfect vehicle for this to occur.
4. If you worked with an agency to adopt, stay in touch with them. Many agencies offer post adopt get-togethers and classes having to do with parenting the adopted child. View your agency as a resource.
5. Integrate adoption into your life – not as an everyday topic for dinner time conversation but in a way that “normalizes” adoption allowing your child to know that it is A-OK to talk about his/her adoption.
6. Be aware of your responsibility as an adoptive parent to appropriately educate those around you that might have misinformation about the subject. This might require having to talk to grandmother or to your child’s classroom teacher or to your kind, but nosy next door neighbor. Tapestry Book’s catalog provides an excellent resource for books that you might find helpful.
7. Find a professional therapist that is skilled in the area of adoption and make an appointment with him/her for your family to visit. Knowing that you have a professional that knows you as a healthy family will allow you to feel secure in the event a challenge comes along that you feel you need outside help with.
8. Enjoy life as a family created through adoption!

Happy Spring!

Dawn

Foreign Adoption for Gay Couples

2005-03-09T11:41:00.000-08:00

Amsterdam media reports Gay couples in the Netherlands been promised legislation that would allow them to adopt children from other countries.

When it appeared that other countries are not be prepared to co-operate with gay couples adopting a child, the Dutch minister said, two weeks ago, that he would change legislation if at least one other nation passed legislation allowing gay couples to adopt a child.

Parliament did not like this and MPs demanded that he act more swiftly.
A joint bill will be submitted in the near future that would allow foreign adoptions by gay couples. Gay couples also have had the right to adopt a Dutch child since 2002, but unlike heterosexual couples, gay couples they are currently not allowed to adopt from another country. Many get aroudn the law by having a single parent adopt a child which is allowed.

Same-Sex Adoption Ban Will Not Be Heard By Supreme Court

2005-01-12T17:40:00.000-08:00

The U.S. Supreme Court will not consider if the Florida law forbidding same-sex adoption is constitutional. Refusing to review the case means the end of the legal challenge against the law.

An earlier decision by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals supported Florida's law against homosexual adoption. The Eleventh Circuit said that Florida's lawmakers made a correct policy judgment when they decided it is not in the interest of displaced children to be adopted by homosexuals.

Some think the court's decision will have nationwide ramifications when other states address the issue of same-sex adoption.

Lesbian Adoption Ruled Legal By Israeli Court

2005-01-11T17:41:00.000-08:00

The Supreme Court of Israel ruled that a lesbian couple is able to legally adopt each other's children. It was a 7-2 decision.

A Jeruselum paper explained that except in rare cases, married couples are the only ones allowed to adopt children in Israel, but the court had recently handed down a ruling allowing a common law wife to adopt her partner's children. The Supreme Court used that decision as their base and expanded the principle to include same-sex couples.

Adoption Dispute In Utah

2005-01-10T17:38:00.000-08:00

Lawyers say a 20-year-old Chicago woman changed her mind about giving up her baby for adoption in Utah, and the adoption agency she was working with threatened to leave the woman stranded.

Allegations were recently brought in a lawsuit against a Utah adoption agency that solicits African-American babies for adoption, reaching birth mothers through newspaper ads. A single birth mother, suffering from postpartum depression, who left her baby with that adoption agency last month, was responding to one of those ads.

The woman's attorneys allege, she was "coerced" and "threatened" when she tried to back out of the adoption, and that the birth mother was "mentally, emotionally and physically impaired" when she traveled to Utah and surrendered her parental rights.

The suit was filed against A Cherished Child Adoption Agency and looks to seek the immediate return of an African-American child born Sept. 10, 2004.

The lawsuit claims that the birth mother was suffering from postpartum depression when she arrived in Utah. She had a 102-degree temperature, had not been eating for several days and was crying uncontrollably. When she told the adoption agency's director, that she did not want to go through with the adoption, she was threatened, her lawyer said.

The lawsuit suggests the adoption agency sent money to McDonald to "induce trust" and to "further entice" her to come to the state of Utah where only a 24 hour layover is required. The adoption agency purchased airplane tickets and allegedly promised that the baby would be adopted by a biracial couple.

At least three other single birth mothers in the Chicago area were recently enticed by ads to place their infants up for adoption in Utah. Because of the huge legal expense to challenge these adoptions, they are rarely overturned.

International Adoption Helps Orphans in Ethiopia

2005-01-07T17:39:00.000-08:00

Sources report that rising number of orphans in Ethiopia have raised the demand for adoptions to a record high. 1,400 Ethiopian children were adopted through international adoption last year a figure that is double the previous year's numbers. Currently there are 5 million orphans in Ethiopia.

Adoption agencies in the capital of Ethiopia doubled last year, it has become a profitable market as some adoption agencies charge adoptive parents fees of up to $20,000 per child.

Ethiopia's adoption authority, says adoption of orphans poses a lot of moral questions and "Adoption is the last resort because it doesn't help alleviate poverty in Ethiopia."

Although Ethiopian adoption laws are strict, the adoption process can happen in 10-15 days if all the paperwork is complete. Most children adopted from Ethiopia go to France, Australia, the US and Ireland. Adoptive couples are using internation adoption because of the huge waits to adopt within their own country.

Adoption Interest Raised by Tsunami Disaster

2005-01-06T15:34:00.000-08:00

The Associated Press reports that the Tsunami Disaster in Asia has peaked potential adoptive parents interest in adopting children orphaned by the tragedy.

The United States has many potential adoptive families asking about adopting children from areas devastated by the tsunami, however adoption officials say it's too early to consider bringing orphaned children into the U.S.

The executive director of Sunshine International Adoption Inc., said her agency has received many phone inquiries about adopting children affected by the disaster. She said it would probably be a year before any children become available for adoption. She also noted that birth certificates and proof that a child is an orphan, required information for an adoption to take place - were lost in the tsunami, and many countries will first look for extended family members to take the children before they would consider international adoption.

An adoption services planner with the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services,says uprooting the children and sending them to another country for adoption could be devastating to the adoptees.

However, some say the most important thing is to get the children to permanent family care, even through adoption, as soon as possible, whether that comes from their own country or a foreign one.

Adoption Reality Show Flops

2005-01-05T15:30:00.000-08:00

According to British Newspapers, Fox's new Adoption Reality show really flopped in ratings this week.

The Adoption Reality Show "Who's Your Daddy", in which adopted children guess the identity of their father, received poor TV ratings. Figures show 6.3 million people watched the show on Fox Monday. The show featured an adoptive child winning $100,000 by identifying her birth father from a line-up of eight men. The show was met with protests from the US National Council For Adoption.

Thomas Atwood of the National Council for Adoption said, "Adoption is a very personal, meaningful experience and it should not be commercialized like this."

On the adoption reality show the adoptive child correctly identified her birth father and, in a further twist, was also reunited with her birth mother at the end.

Fox producers say the adoption show was a "positive experience".

Adoption Law, Increases Adoptions, Creates More Orphans

2005-01-04T15:33:00.000-08:00

A federal adoption law passed in 1997 with the intention to increase adoption actually creates more orphans as it increases adoption of foster children reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The law produced an increase in the number of children who were legally made orphans but not adopted. 117,395 children have been legally severed from their biological mothers and fathers since the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) was passed, but often adoptive parents have not been found.

The foster children continue to live in foster care or group homes, but most are denied all contact with their biological relatives as they await an adoption that may never happen .

The Post-Gazette says termination of legal ties to parents has to happen before a child may be adopted. By making parental rights terminate sooner, the ASFA enabled more adoptions but at the same time left more children legally orphans without biogical or adoptive parents.

The National Adoption rate rose sharply after the act passed, to a high of 52,546 in 2002, with a 54 % average annual increase, but at the same time there was an increase of 82% the number of terminations of parental rights. The Post-Gazette goes on to say in each of the six years since the act became law, more children saw their parents' rights terminated than were adopted.

Supporters of the law say the adoptions are an important accomplishment, and if more effort is made orphans eventually will be adopted.

Gay and Lesbian Adoption ban struck down by Arkansas court

2005-01-03T16:56:00.000-08:00

An Arkansas court found that children are not harmed by living with gay or lesbian adoptive parents. They struck down a state ban that prevented gay people and anyone living with a gay adult from being adoptive parents or foster parents in Arkansas. The court decision was the result of a suit brought by the ACLU for three potential adoptive parents.

Rita Sklar, Executive Director of the ACLU of Arkansas stated: “We’re very pleased that the court saw through these arguments and has recognized that gay and lesbian people can provide homes just as loving and stable as anyone else’s.”

The Circuit Court Judge (Fox) rejected claims made by the state about gay and lesbian people’s suitability as adoptive parents. Some of the Judges findings:
*gay adoptive parents don’t increase the risk of psychological, behavioral, or academic problems for children.
*Children of lesbian and gay adoptive parents are just as well adjusted as children of straight parents.
*The blanket gay adoption exclusion can hurt children by excluding a pool of effective adoptive parents.

Adoptive Parents, Adoptees & Birth Parent Coalition Protests Adoption Reality Show

2005-01-01T14:36:00.000-08:00

A loose coalition of adoptees, adoptive parents and birth parents has launched a nationwide effort to force Fox to cancel the "Who's Your Daddy?" reality show.

Angry over the reality show, the adoption coalition says it trivializes the complex feelings surrounding adoption. In the show, an adult woman adopted as an infant has a chance to win $100,000 if she can correctly choose her biological father from among eight men. If she chooses a fake, he will win the money. Five other father-and-child reunions have been taped but not scheduled.

"The adoption reality show takes a deeply intimate, important personal experience and trivializes it, turning it into a money-grubbing game show,'' stated Adam Pertman, executive director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, a New York research, policy and education organization. The Adoption Institute first alerted media and other groups about the show earlier this month.

An estimated 5,000 e-mails had been sent to Fox in protest of the show, most using a formatted protest letter provided by As Simple As That, an adoption advocacy group.

Earlier this year a birth-parents group demonstrated against an ABC Barbara Walters special, "Be My Baby'. This show featured a pregnant teenager choosing her child's adoptive parents from among several hopeful couples through the television special.