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EquityinAdoption:BishopsofIllinois,OpenYourHeartsandMinds
JaneF.Gilgun
Summary
InlateDecember2011,theRomanCatholicbishopsinIllinoisshutdowntheadoptionservicesofCatholicCharitiesinthenameofreligiousfreedom.Theydidsotoavoidcompliancewith federalgovernmentrequirementsthatagenciesreceivingfederalfundshavetoallowlesbiansandgaystoadoptchildren.Inthisarticle,Ishareexcerptsofinterviewswithagayadoptivecoupleandwithadoptionsocialworkers.Thetenderness,love,andcommitmentthatemergewillwarmtheheart.
 AbouttheAuthor
JaneF.Gilgun,Ph.D.,LICSW,isaprofessor,SchoolofSocialWork,UniversityofMinnesota,TwinCities,USA.ShewasanadoptionsocialworkeratRhodeIslandChildWelfareServicesforalmosteightyearsandhadalong-termresearchprojectonadoptionofchildrenwithspecialneeds.SheisagraduateoftheCatholicUniversityofAmericainWashington,D.C.,andtheCatholicUniversityofLouvain,Belgium.
 
EquityinAdoption:BishopsofIllinois,OpenYourHeartsandMinds
IfIhadamagicwand
,IwouldhelptheRomanCatholicbishopsofIllinoistoconnectthedotsbetweentheirchurch’sstandonhumanrightsthroughouttheworldandtherightsofwell-functioningadultstoadoptchildren.InlateDecember2011,thebishopsinIllinoisshutdowntheadoptionservicesofCatholicCharitiesinthenameofreligiousfreedom.Theydidsotoavoidcompliancewithfederalgovernmentrequirementsthatagenciesreceivingfederalfundinghavetoallowlesbiansandgaystoadoptchildren.Iinvitethesebishopstoopentheirheartsandmindstotheexperiencesofadoptedchildrenwhoseparentsaregays,lesbians,bisexuals,andrepresentativeofothersexualminorities.Iinvitethebishopstotalktothechildren,theparents,tothesocialworkerswhoplacedthechildren,andtoprospectiveadoptiveparentswhosesexualityisnotheterosexual.Ibelievetheywillbepleasantlysurprisedatthewarmth,love,andcommitmentthatthechildrenandtheirparentsexperience.
ViewsofAdoptiveParents
AnexcerptfromaconversationIhadwithAdamandMark,agaycouplewhohadbeentogetherfor23years,showsthecommitmentandthegoodthatcanhappenwhenGLBTQpeopleadopt.
Mark:
Wedecidedrightfromthebeginningthattheseareourkids.Welookedatthevideotape,lookedatthepicturesaboutsixjilliontimes.Wesaidinthemorningwe’regoingtomakeourdecision.Whenwecalledthem,that’sjustlikeyou’reinthelabor.Inlabor.That’stheendofit.Andwediditandneverlookedback.I’lltellyousomething,too,kidsfeelit.There’snothingadoptiveaboutourfamily.They’reourchildren.
Adam
: The county was just about to split up the two boys. If it didn’t work with us,they were going to split them up. I think part of it was Sam was getting a little older, andthey didn’t want to hold Brian back from getting adopted. Of course, Sam is dark skinned,and Brian is really white. Brian’s a cute, young, chubby little boy with zero problems.Actually, you want to know the truth of the matter, we’ve had more problems with Brianthan we did with Sam. Sam came and a lot of that stuff really diminished in the first year. Ithink it was feeling safe really helped.
Samwas12andBrian8atthetimeoftheinterview.Theyhadadoptedthechildrensixyearsearlier.
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