MOTHER ‘ATTEMPTS" TO DUMP TEEN DAUGHTER IN OMAHA

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More Nebraska Fiasco: KOLN/KGIN-TV reports that a 34 year woman attempted to dump her 15-year old daughter at Bryan LGH West yesterday morning, under the state’s safe haven law. Hospital officials talked her out of it, and admitted the teenager to the hospital’s child psychiatric service. According to the mother, the girl was a runaway. The mother says she’d begun paperwork to make her daughter a ward of the state, “but it took too long.” Let’s hope this woman never has to fill out an insurance claim or buy a house! How much worse does this have to get before the legislature, stops husking corn, and repeals this travesty? No, the law doesn’t need tweaked or tightened-up or any other quaint-worded fix politicians want to throw about. The mass dumping of Nebraska’s children is the perfect consequence of what we have been saying would happen for the last nine years. Who’s Next: Spouses? Grandparents? How many families need to be destroyed before people wake up to the atrocity of “safe havens”? I’ll be writing much more about this, but I’m heading for downtown in a few minutes and wanted to get this breaking news up. REPEAL BABY DUMP LAWS NOW! Continue Reading →

NEBRASKA FIASCO CONTINUES: 2 MORE DUMPED AT HOSPITAL

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Nebraska media reports that two 12-year old boys were dropped off at hospitals in Lincoln and Omaha over the weekend. Police in Lincoln say a 51-year old woman dumped off her grandson at Brian LGH West Sunday evening, saying she “could no longer take care of him.” She regained custody of the boy last month. Lincoln police chief Tom Casady, appears to be one of the few sane “official” voices in the face of the state-sanctioned and encouraged child abandonment epidemic: It provides an opportunity to drop the child off without any kind of negative consequence and I think there are plenty of people who will take advantage of that I’m rather surprised that the Legislatures [sic] didn’t see this coming because I can assure you that everyone at the police department saw it coming. Casady believes more kids are on the way. Another 12-year old boy was left at the lead dump site, Immanuel Medical Center in Omaha, but no details have been released. Here’s the revised dumpee roster: September 1: Male 14–left by mother at Omaha police station. Currently in foster care. September 13: Male 11–left by grandmother–another report says mother–at Immanuel Medical Center, Omaha; currently in foster Continue Reading →

NEBRASKA FIASCO: BASTARDETTE GETS A SHORT INTERVIEW WITH NCFA’S TOM ATWOOD ON NEBRASKA TEEN DUMPS AND ‘SAFE HAVEN" LAW

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Recently I attended the annual National Council for Adoption conference in Washington–my third in four years. On Saturday (Sept 27) I caught NCFA president Tom Atwood, between the last panel and lunch. I was able to do a short interview with him about the Nebraska Fiasco–Nebraska’s teen dump epidemic. Atwood was unaware of Gary Staton’s “legal abandonment” of his 9 kids at Creighton Medical Center ER, which took place during the conference, until I told him. We only had a couple minutes to talk and were cut short by lunch call. Obviously there is much more to discuss. There is time yet to bring NCFA to the Dark Side! The most interesting part to me is that Atwood’s criticism of the Nebraska law and its consequences are very similar to my and Bastard Nation’s arguments against baby dumping all together–only he excludes newborns from the equation where we oppose it for all, no mater what the age. With Atwood’s consent, I tapped my interview with him. The transcription is below. I have edited nothing except an interruption. INTERVIEW:BASTARDETTE: I’m here at NCFA [conference] talking to Tom Atwood about the Nebraska Fiasco. For a little background: Wednesday, a father safe havened Continue Reading →

ISAAC JONATHAN DYKSTRA: ANOTHER DEAD RUSSIAN ADOPTEE

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On August 7, 2008 Brian Dale Dykstra, 31,was charged with 2nd degree murder in the 2005 death of his adopted Russian son Isaac Jonathan Dykstra, 21 months old. Dykstra surrendered to Johnson County, Iowa authorities on August 8 and was released on $15,000 bond. He submitted a written plea of Not Guilty on October 2 in Johnson County District Court. Dykstra currently lives in South Carolina where his wife, Dr. Lisa Dykstra, is an Assistant Professor of Spanish at Clemson University. She was not at home at the time of the alleged beating and has not been charged. I have been unable to find the employment status of Brian Dykstra (but he is not the actor/comedian/playright of the same name). Isaac was born November 18, 2003 in Krasnoyarsk and adopted from an orphanage there. An Iowa City Police Department press release says that on August 13, 2005 officers were sent to Dykstra’s home after receiving an abandoned 911 call from that address. On callback, Dykstra told the dispatcher that Isaac was having a ‘little seizure” and difficulty breathing from what “might be related to a head injury.” Responding units from the Iowa City Police, Iowa City Fire Department, and Johnson Continue Reading →

CALIFORNIA: THE TERMINATOR TERMINATES "SAFE HAVEN" BABY DUMP EXPANSION AGAIN

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For the third year running California Governor Arnold Schwarznegger has vetoed a bill that would expand the age at which babies can be legally dumped under the state’s “Safe Surrender” law. AB 2262 would have extended the age from from 3 to 7 days. Here is the governor’s veto message BILL NUMBER: AB 2262VETOED DATE: 09/30/2008 To the Members of the California General Assembly:I am returning Assembly Bill 2262 without my signature. I have vetoed similar measures twice before and there is no new data or information to support a change in my position. California’s Safe Surrender Law is carefully crafted to provide an emergency alternative to a woman in crisis while also preserving the fundamental rights of the child. For this reason, I am unable to support this bill. Sincerely. Arnold SchwarzneggerThe bill was opposed by veteran “safe haven’ leader and promoter LA County Supervisor Don Knabe. I haven’t found a statement from him regarding the new veto, but in his May 2008 “monthly message” he wrote: Unfortunately, for the third consecutive year, the success of Safe Surrender is again threatened. Right now in Sacramento, lawmakers in the California State Assembly are debating a Bill that would do far Continue Reading →

ONTARIO GOVERNMENT STILL HATES ADOPTEES: IDENTITY ABUSE CONTINUES

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Bastardette has a long-standing love affair with Ontario. As a very young Bastard she was an occasional visitor to Sarnia (especially Scot’s Department Store) and when she grew up she spent a substantial amount of time with a gang of Ontario party-heartiers out of the Chrysler-Windsor plant and Point Pelee via the historic Goose Lake Festival. The former Mr. Bastardette (Mr. Bastard to you) lives in Revelstoke, British Columbia now with his third wife, so I shall reserve my opinion of that province for another day. (r: Bastardette with a potential Mr. Bastard 2, French-Canadian hunk”Carribou.”) It has therefore been quite disappointing to see Ontario take the lead in North American bastard-baiting-hating and incessant fear mongering over the right to access. The government of Ontario, represented by its wacky “Privacy Minister” Ann Cavoukian, has spent an inordinate amount of time and taxpayer money educating Ontarians to the dangers presented by the province’s Adopted Class. From claiming that some of Ontario’s first parents would commit suicide if The Adopted were to be treated identical to the Not Adopted–vis a vis allowed to own their own birth certificates under Bill 183–to accusing them of trying to shut her up, Miss Cavoukian has Continue Reading →

BASTARD NATION ACTION ALERT: PULL B 4896 AND HB 6287

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PLEASE FEEL FREE TO FORWARD Michigan House Bills 4896 and 6287 are simply taking up space right now in the Senate Committee for Families & Human Services. Senator Mark Jansen, Chair, has not yet set a hearing for these bills. WE NEED TO GET THESE BILLS PULLED RIGHT NOW. WE DON’T WANT THESE BILLS TO EVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY. ASK SENATOR JANSEN TO KILL HB64896 AND HB 6287. Senator Mark Jansen Assistant Majority Caucus Chair Committee for Families & Human Services Chair [email protected] If possible, can you please c/c Senator Dennis Olshove, Assistant Democratic Caucus, [email protected] and House Representative Lisa Wojno, Sponsor, HBs 4896/6287, [email protected] Here’s why we have to write! Word is out to all BIRTH MOTHERS in Michigan to write to the Senator in support of the bills. The proponents of the bills say they don’t stand a chance of passing their bills unless birth mothers write and tell Sen. Jansen and the Committee how good the bills are because they contain a disclosure veto. In fact, the bills are now being touted as bills about birth mothers’ rights to privacy. The supporters of the bills are telling adoptees that it’s okay for them to write Continue Reading →

"A LITTLE HAYWIRE:" BABY DUMP PUSHER TRIVIALIZES ABANDONERS AND ABANDONMENT

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A few days ago a newborn was left illegally (that is, outside of government-preferred “legal” baby dump specs) on a church stoop in Federal Way, Washington. The unnamed mother has since turned herself in, and as of this writing, no charges have been filed. The Seattle Times asked Kathy Satow of the Pekin, Indiana-based Newborn Lifeline Network about women who abandon their newborns. Here is her response: Satow said that many people assume young mothers who abandon their babies are teens from underprivileged backgrounds, but she said that’s not usually the case. Instead, she said, they typically are 21- to 24-year-old college students who go “a little haywire” out on their own for the first time, she said. They “don’t want to test their security net” — namely their own parents — and so go into crisis once they deliver. So the complex issues surrounding nearly all newborn abandonment: fear, social isolation, hidden pregnancy, pregnancy denial, dangerous delivery, poverty, inaccessibilty of social services, untreated mental illness, substance abuse, and domestic violence have morphed into a simple college girl problem of “going a little haywire” 500 miles away from home for the first time. Maybe that makes baby dumping more marketable.

"I DON’T WANT ANYTHING TO HAPPEN TO KIDS LIKE IT HAPPENED TO ME" NEBRASKA ABANDONMENTS REACH 16

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The casualties pile up in Nebraska. According to Nebraska DHHS figures released a couple days ago, on September 24, the same day that 9 siblings were dumped at Creighton Medical Center, an 11 year old boy was kicked to the curb in “Burt/Douglas County” and a news report indicates another boy, 15, was dropped off in Omaha (video). On Sept. 22, an 18 year old “safe havened” himself at a Grand Island hospital. That answers one question some of us had! DHHS apparently won’t count the boy left with the police on September 1, since police stations are not “safe haven” drop-off points.Here’s the tally to date: September 1: Male 14–left by mother at Omaha police station. Currently in foster care. September 13: Male 11–left by grandmother–another report says mother–at Immanuel Medical Center, Omaha; currently in foster care and partial hospitalization. September 13: Male 15–left by guardian aunt at Bryant Medical Center West, Lincoln. September 20: Pregnant female 13 left by mother at Immanuel Medical Center, Omaha. Returned to mother–see below. September 22: Male 18, turned himself in to hospital in Grand Island; too old for foster care, but can receive services. September 24: 9 siblings, 1-17 (left by father, Continue Reading →

PENNY PARTRIDGE IN THE BIG APPLE

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Got this the other day and thought I’d share it. I really enjoyed Penny’s one-woman show at the AAC in Portlandearlier this year. Penny is one of the pioneers of the adoptee right movement and an all-around nice person. If you’re in New York, check out the show! And next time somebody warns you getting your obc or recovering your identity will “open a Pandora’s Box” tell them that Hope remained at the bottom of the box. …..Bastardette The Adoption Circle of the Center for Modern Psychoanalytic Studies invites you to attenda One-Woman Performance Piece by Penny Callan Partridge to be held at The Center for Modern Psychoanalytic Studies16 West 10th StreetNew York, NY 10011212.260.7050www.cmps.edu OCTOBER 17TH 7:30 – 9:30 PM We are delighted to be joined by Penny Callan Partridge, whose performance piece hastouched and educated audiences from Portland, Oregon to Florence, Italy. Pandora Out of the Box will trace her evolving relationship with the Pandora story. It will include poetry,politics, humor, history, and of the importance of knowing and telling one’s story. for FLYER and additional info click: http://www.cmps.edu/pdf/pandora_out_of_the_box.pdf or go to www.cmps.edu and follow “UPCOMING EVENTS” to “Adoption Circle” Hope you can attend what promises to be Continue Reading →