ARIZONA: MORE "SAFE HAVEN" FANTASY; BLC LINK

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I’ve been falling down on the job again. I’ll have a major blog up (hopefully today, but I’m not sure) and get back in the saddle again, as Gene Autry once sang. In the meantime, I suggest you check out Baby Love Child’s new entry, Unsafe haven: Dead baby found inside hospital, “about 100 feet” from the hospital’s dumpbox: For those who insist a “safe haven” babydump box in every hospital would ensure their mythical ‘no dead babies,’ think again. Case in point? Glendale, AZ, where a 15 year old gave birth in the hospital bathroom, leaving a baby boy in the bathroom trash can, “about 100 feet from a Safe Haven” dumpbox. Then, from the news story itself: Glendale police are investigating a baby found dead in a hospital, allegedly in a trash can. The baby was found on Saturday in the emergency room at Banner Thunderbird Hospital, only about 100 feet from a Safe Haven drop-off location. A teen went to the emergency room with her mother complaining of stomach and back pains. BLC has visited the Banner Thunderbird Hospital and posts her personal pictures of the dumpbox on her blog. Also check out the bizarre but important Continue Reading →

ATTENTION PITTSBURGH! ELLEN HERMAN TO SPEAK AT PITT

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Pittsburgh History Department Graduate Program Speaker Series, Pittsburgh Consortium for Adoption Studies, University of Pittsburgh School of Arts and Sciences, Department of English, Women’s Studies Program, and Cultural Studies Program Present Scientific Rules for Realness: Matching and Its Critics in American Adoption Ellen Herman Professor of History University of Oregon Tuesday, September 29 4:00 – 6:00 pm History Department Lounge (3703 Posvar Hall) University of Pittsburgh Ellen Herman’s most recent book is Kinship by Design: A History of Adoption in the Modern United States (University of Chicago Press, 2008). She has also written about the impact of psychology on public policy and culture during and after World War II: The Romance of American Psychology: Political Culture in the Age of Experts (University of California Press, 1995). Her recent work has been supported by fellowships at Harvard Law School and Radcliffe’s Bunting Institute, as well as by a major research grant from the Science and Technology Studies Program of the National Science Foundation. During the 2004-2005 academic year, she was a Visiting Scholar in the Harvard University Department of the History of Science. Her current book considers the history of child adoption during the twentieth century as a case study of Continue Reading →

HAND ME THE SKEWER: POUND PUP SERVES ELIZABETH BARTHOLET UP ON A PLATTER

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Obviously, I’ve been away again Not really away away, just working on some other projects. Today, I want to point you to Pound Pup’s Niels Hoogeveen’s skewering of Harvard AdoptaMaven Elizabeth Bartholet. Never has Bastardette taken such satisfaction is seeing one of our major child redistribution globalists and corruption apolgists so deservedly BBQ’d and served on a platter. Here’s a couple excerpts from Are interational adoption critics really wrong? … Ms. Bartholet doesn’t consider adoption to take place as a child welfare activity, but as something part of the legal system. Formally that is not necessarily incorrect. In the end adoption passes a judge, but it ignores the fact that most of the activities in adoption have nothing to do with the legal system. The acquisition of customers, the allocation of adoptable children, the preparation and screening of prospective adopters, all of that has nothing to do with the legal system, but are part and parcel of every adoption. So the abuses that take place in inter-country adoption cannot singularly be placed as part of the abuses of the legal system in general. On top of that two wrongs do not make one right. Abuses in the legal system are Continue Reading →

DEMONS IN ADOPTION AWARDS – BALLOT NOW UP!

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It’s that time again! The Third Annual Demons in Adoption Awards ballot is now online. This is your opportunity, as one bludgeoned by adoption, to vote for your favorite adopta thief, babyseller, flim-flamist, money launderer, or bunco artist, all from the comfort of your own home or office. We are disappointed that CARE founder Jean Stauss didn’t make the final cut. We noted with amusement earlier this year that some anonymous bastard (not yours truly) nominated the rights-down-the-river seller and all-around Benedict Bastard for this prestigious honor. We were looking forward to the opportunity to vote for Strauss, the American Adoption Congress’ 2009 Emma Vilardi Humanitarian Award. Funny, how one organization’s humanitarian is another organization’s demon. Still, we have so many good choices left that we shall have to pray about it before we hit the key. It’s a tuffy! Here’s the official press release from Pound Pup, sponsor of the awards: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE************************************************************* Each year Pound Pup Legacy presents the Demons of Adoption Award to raise a voice against adoption propaganda and the self congratulatory practices of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute’s annual Angels in Adoption Awards (TM) Until October 30 you will have the opportunity to Continue Reading →

SAFE HAVENS: TIME TO AUDIT THE BOOKS

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Since the codification of legalized baby dumping in the US, there has been growing evidence that cases once considered “boarder baby” abandonments are being folded into “safe haven cases.” That is, babies born to (usually) identified mothers in hospitals and left by the parent(s) beyond the time of discharge (the official definition [pdf] of boarder babies) are being counted as “safe haven” saved-from-the-dumpster. Numerous news reports tell us of mothers walking out of hospitals after giving birth using the “safe haven option.” One of the latest and most blatant reports was the DIY advice published in the November 11, 2008 Newark Star Ledger, How you can put your baby in a loving home. One of the most disturbing appeared in the Abeline Reporter News, June 20, 2008, Baby Moses Law allows for “safe abandonment about a “safe haven” in Richardson, Texas, where a woman had given birth there, then said she didn’t want the child, Summey said. “The hospital didn’t know what to do. It was a Baby Moses abandonment, but the mom needed medical attention. CPS foots the bill for (the baby’s) medical care, but they didn’t know if the mother was covered as well.”The Michigan Department of Human Continue Reading →

MARY ROBINSON NAMED NEW PRESIDENT, NATIONAL COUNCIL OF ADOPTION

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NCFA continues to change its face to the nicer and kinder. This morning the National Council for Adoption announced the appointment of Mary Fasenmyer Robinson its new president and CEO. She replaces NCFA VP Chuck Johnson, who has served as acting president since the resignation of Tom Atwood last November. Robinson, with her background in development, marketing, finances, and philanthropy, (ie, $$$$$$$) appears to be the biggest step yet away from the bastard busting of its pathological founding mission and Piercian brand of realpolitik. Bill Pierce (right), who never met a bastard or parent (first or adoptive), that didn’t need a good slap down and smearing, should be spinning in his grave– if he had one. Bastardette warned Dr. Pierce that calamity would befall NCFA after his passing, and, well…he said that was NCFA’s problem, not his. We personally, miss the cowboy days. A corporate NCFA is not a fun NCFA. Except for its weird association with Texas Christian’s Dr. Karyn Purvis, the attachment lady who equates wheeling a kid around the store in a grocery cart with child abandonment, NCFA hasn’t been much fun since Bastard Nation shut it down during its In Belly of the Beast rally, (and Continue Reading →

DEAR ABBY: I MARRIED A DOUCHEBAG

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Well, that’s not what Abby calls him, but what else could he be? Son given up for adoption threatens marriage It figures he’s from New Jersey DEAR ABBY: I became an unwed mother many years ago, when there was a stigma attached to having an illegitimate child. Unable to care for my son, I placed him for adoption. He has now found me. I have a family, and my husband does not want me to tell our adult children or contact the young man and his family. Do I go against the wishes of my husband, whom I love very much, or should I tell our children and perhaps risk my husband leaving me? – CONFLICTED IN NEW JERSEY What about “Husband threatens marriage”? Empty this douchebag down the drain right now. Followed by scalding water. Followed by 20 minutes of garbage disposing. Thanks to Jo Anne Swanson

SECRET HISTORIES, PUBLIC POLICIES: LAST CALL FOR PAPERS

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Secret Histories, Public Policies Mark your calendars! The 3rd Alliance for the Study of Adoption and Culture Conference: Secret Histories, Public Policies will be held at MIT, April 29-May 2, 2010. This will be THE adoption conference. It’s not too late to submit proposals, either. Below are details. Deadline is September 1, 2009. Conference website is here See you there! Conference date: April 29 – May 2, 2010 note new dates!at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 Proposal deadline: Sept. 1, 2009 Organized by the Alliance for the Study of Adoption and Culture Conference Organizers:Sally Haslanger (MIT), Marianne Novy (University of Pittsburgh), Charlotte Witt (UNH) Adoption has often, though not always, involved secrecy. How has secrecy or openness affected the history, experience and representations of adoption? •How have literature and film portrayed the impact of secrecy and disclosure on adoptees, birthparents, adoptive parents? What is the impact of recent revelations of secret histories in memoir, books such as The Girls Who Went Away, documentaries such as First Person Plural? •How and why did adoption secrecy, and the practices it hides, develop differently in different cultures, countries, and even different states? Where are alternatives to secrecy practiced and how Continue Reading →

NEBRASKA: BABY BOY ANA HOME FOR GOOD!

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Yesterday (August 18) Box Butte County Judge Charles Plantz dismissed the Baby Boy Ana/Baby Box Butte case; thus affirming his earlier decision to return the baby to his family permanently. According to a statement by Todd Recklng director of the Nebraska Division of Children and Family Service, all parties to the case agreed to the dismissal. Reckling’s statement is not posted on the DFS Safe Haven or DFS press release page. News reports, however, say that the parents, whose names remain confidential, will continue to work voluntarily with the department. The statement does not say what services they will use. Baby Boy Ana is the first infant dropped off under Nebraska’s “new and improved” baby dump law. We hope he is the last. The easiest way to follow this case is through reading Children of the Corn. If any more news on this case surfaces, we’ll keep you updated. The most detailed account of yesterday’s hearing (so far) can be found at the Fremont Tribune. Welcome home, Baby Boy Ana!