Category Archives: Adoption

Monday, Bedford County, Tennessee Common Pleas Court Judge Franklin Lee Russell ruled against child abandoner Torry Hansen’s request that the public be barred from court in upcoming child support hearings Np date has been set. Hansen made international headlines last year when she put her adopted son Artyom Savelyev, 7 (now 9) on a plane by himself with orders to return him to the Russian Ministry of Education, the ministry  that oversees adoptions from Russia. The little boy wasn’t a good fit for her and her overbearing mother. The World Association of Children and Parents ((WACAP) the agency that placed Atryom with Hansen has brought suit for child support arguing that putting the boy on a plane to Moscow  is not a “legitimate way to annul an adoption.”  Hansen, the agency contends, is still the legal parent,  and  liable for child support payments to WACAP.  Russian courts have also reportedly requested child support from Hansen. According to Monday’s  news, WACAP is asking for a standard 27% of her salary as a nurse, plus back payments.  Hansen’s  (third) attorney, Sandra Smith, had asked the court to exclude the media from hearings because of the Artyom’s juvenile status. According to Monday’s Tennessean Continue Reading →

This really will be short tonight.  I’ve been sick all day again.  Not that it’s really bad sick, but enough to wear me down. I’ve had this before, and it will go away in a couple days (I hope)  In the meantime, every time I think of adoption, I feel sick.  No individual adoption stories,  not my friends, not organizations,   Like one could get sick of theatre( been there, done that),  the Complete Works of Karl Marx (been there done that for a class assignment).,  Obama (continually) Adoption. A subject that never goes away.   I’ve gotten lots of good comments here and on FB over my last couple blogs, and I’ll be responding soon.  Just not tonight. 

The Columbus Dispatch ran a pretty clueless article–For Some Parents, Struggle over Adoption is Never Ending,  on yesterday’s event at Camp Mary Onrton sponsored by the Ohio Birth Parent Grup  (see blog directly below this. I’m not famliar with reporter Bill Bush, but I think the event wojuld have much better served if Rita Price had covered it.  I’ve worked with Rita before, and she knows her aodption business. Anyway, Bush emphasized, victimization and sensationalizatin, something that sells papers, but not adoption reality, and makes those of us in adoption look like victims, not fiighters  Please post comments on the Dispatch website if you wre there or write a letter to the editor.. I’m posoting something ,but not tonight  I’m still sick and going back to bed.

 Today I had to renew my driver’s license.  I say “had” because my license expired on my birthday a couple weeks ago, and although Ohio gives a big grace period in renewal, I want to vote in tomorrow’s state election..  I  was afraid, the way Ohio runs its crooked vote, that without a current’ “proof of identity”  I’d be forced to do a highly questionable “provisional ballot.” (I suspect that expired legal IDs are invalid so the self-perpetuating state can dun you–in this case $22.00– for another ID that will eventually expire so the state can dun you again..)  While I generally believe that  the fix is in, and voting is a waste of time, there is no way I’m going to not put my X where my mouth is and vote against Issue 2–Gov K-sick’s attempt to bust Ohio public unions.  (For a good breakdown of what K-sick is up to read Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman’s latest on the measure, Will the !% steal Ohio’s labor rights referendum?  It can happen in your state, too, and it’s about a lot more than unions.) But I digress.  According to the Ohio BMV  webpage, since my license expired less than Continue Reading →

Courtesy of FauxClaud – Thanks!

Reproductive libery in Ohio is currently under attack by well-funded national and local organizations and individuals.  They’ve had a lot of bills in the legislatlure this year, including Janet Folger Porter and Jack Willke’s Heartbeat bill , which would virtually outlaw abortion in Ohio.  Leggies  goobbled up even if it is unconstitutional. and will hit the courts the day it’s signed.  IF is the operative world.  I’ll write more about the bill at a later date. For the non-initiated, Folger Porter and Willke are the chief reason original birth certificates remain sealed in Ohio, another topic I’ll be writing about.. We also have Dr. Patrick Johnston organizing the attempt to get a Personhood Amendment on the November 2012 ballot. .  While not exactly about adoption, the usual suspects beyond Folger Porter and Willke,  are involved in these schemes, but not particularly together. Wingnuts don’t always get along with each other.  In fact, the Heartbeat bill has split Ohio Right to Life (more on that later, too). As some of you know I have several blogs. One of them, Theoconia: a Central Ohio Theocon Report, is not related directly to adoption, though sometimes it  is. I’ve been away from Theocnia for Continue Reading →

OK.  I give up.  Twitter has defeated me. After repeated attempts for months to access the Daily Bastardette Twitter account  I’ve thrown up the white flag. First I don’t exist.  Then I do, but my password doesn’t.  Sometimes my Twitter email account for Bastardette doesn’t exist. Sometimes I don’t exist, but then I’m adopted. I’m keeping Twitter since I get hits from it, I’ve been forced to open a new account. I can’t delete the old account because it won’t let me in.  For those so inclined please go to the left Twitter thingamajig and subscribe. I can also be found under marleygreiner in the Twitter directory.  I wanted to use “Daily Bastardette” but Twitter wouldn’t let me.  Figures. Now if I can just figure out how to add the new Google “share this” icon. It went up automatically on one of my blogs, but not the rest.

Someone posted this on the Facebook Adoption News and Events page: 10 Keys to Using Positive Adoption Language   The original positive adoption language spiel was bad enough, but Rachel Wallace Reid, Certified Montessori Teacher and Parent Educator, author of this piece of drivel, has raised the ante to a whole new level of prissy absurdity. Perhaps she read too much Ionesco in college. Take  Rule Key #1: The adoptive parents are the “real” parents.  The real parents are the grown-ups who will take care of the child every day and for the rest of their lives.  When referring to who gave birth to the child, simply say birth parents or birth woman.  A biological father is not referred to as the real father, but the biological one. Birth woman?   It makes me think of Big Foot in a dress dropping babyees in the woods  I am  birth woman, hear me roar! And biological father?. Why not Birth Man?   We wager that the Birth Man population is greatly undercounted, and if a proper census were taken, would far outweigh that of Birth Woman who just happens to be a handy recipient of Birth Man’s love. It only takes him a few seconds to accomplish his task;  it takes her nine months not Continue Reading →

The Ohio Birthparent Group is celebrating its first anniversary next month. To celebrate, on Sunday, November 13, the group is holding a special one-day event: Living Adoption: Life-Long Issues in the Birthparent Experience here in Columbus.  The morning session is for parents only; the afternoon session, and educational workshop is open to professionals and the public,  Both  sessions are free, but CEI credits are $20.00 (pre-registration). Brenda Romanchik is guest speaker and facilitator.  Brenda is one of the first persons I met in online AdoptionLand nearly 20 years ago (yikes!).  I’ll be there and I hope my Ohio readers can join us. OPG is not affiliated with any religion and is not sponsored by any adoption agency or facilitator. Here’s more information: LOCATION:   Camp Mary Orton 7925 N. High St. Columbus, OH 43235 In recognition of our First Anniversary, Ohio Birthparent Group invites you to a special National Adoption Month event exploring the experiences of women and men who have placed children for adoption in the U.S. Living Adoption: Life-Long Issues in the Birthparent Experience with guest facilitator Brenda Romanchik, LMSW, ACSW, CTS Sunday, November 13th, 2011 9:00am-12:30pmBirthparent Support Meeting (For Birthparents Only) 2:00pm-4:00pmEducational Workshop for Professionals and Community Members (Open to the Public) / Continue Reading →