Saturday, June 30, 2007

An adoptive family needs everyone's help!

A friend of mine in our local FCC sent this out to our Yahoo! Group. An adoptive parent sent her the following email about a friend of her's. This family's adopted daughter from Thailand is 15, and will be 16 later this year. In Thailand, you age out of the adoption system at 16. This family was supposed to be her forever family and now, Thailand is taking her away and their agency WACAP, is doing to nothing to help.

Her blog is http://operation-adopt.blogspot.com/

From the email:

A friend of mine and fellow Thai adoptive family is in a horrible
position of having to return her daughter to Thailand after having her
home since Oct. 2006. The biggest problem is this could happen to any of
us. Someone found out some thing that Rain had done in her past a long
time ago, nothing criminal but a moral issue, and informed her adoption
agency, WACAP in Washington State, who informed Thailand and now they
are supposed to take Brooke to Seattle July 3 to turn her over to WACAP
and walk off without her. After reassuring Brooke & Cody their 8 yo bio
daughter, that Brooke was here to stay forever. Do you have any thing in
your past you are not so proud of? I do, most of us do, I think. But is
that a reason to have your child taken away from you years later? My
concern is that WACAP told the family in Feb. that they had 30 days to
appeal the decision, and when asked how by the family, they didn't know
and weren't willing to help them find out. What kind of service is that?
Were they not paid for their services? They are still the legal
overseers of the adoption because with Thai adoptions parents are given
guardianship in Thailand at the Board Meeting before they are able to
leave Thailand with their child and their agency oversees the adoption
and are in the service of the parents at least until the adoption is
finalized in the US state courts. This family had 1 month to go before
they could finalize in court. They even completed their third post
placement after finding out that Brooke would have to return to
Thailand. Please send WACAP an email of support for Brooke to stay
with her family and remind WACAP that they are in service to this family
to do what is right for this child! Possibly we should remind them that
we adoptive parents will remember how they did or did not stand behind
this family that THEY preapproved for adoption from Thailand, allowed
them to travel to Thailand and bring this child home and was fine with
this family until someone else that wasn't involved with this family
gave them information from Rain's past and then they decided this family
isn't good for this child. Shouldn't this have happened before the
family was approved to adopt? Before the family traveled to Thailand
after a year of waiting for approval from Thailand? Before the child was
brought to the US? We have to act fast, because July 3rd is just
around the corner. What would you want to happen if someone dug into
your past and found something not so flattering and told your adoption
agency? Wouldn't you want the adoption community to stand behind you and
help you keep your child home where they belong? If Brooke is
returned to Thailand she will age out of being adopted in about 6
months. She will most likely go back to living with her foster mother,
where she wasn't sent to school because she has CP and they think she
isn't smart enough to learn anything. What will happen to her if she is
returned when she ages out of the foster care? Where will she live ?
With who? Without an education? With her disability? What will happen to
Brooke, she will most likely end up in prostitution! Sold as a sex
slave! We don't want to believe this happens but it does unfortunately,
but we can help this from happening to this one young lady today! Write
an email, make a phone call, send a fax to save this girl and keep her
in the US with her family! Please send your emails, phone calls &
letters to the following people : Mary Moo & Lucie Kroschel, Asia Reps,
Bridget Lambright & Malorie Clemens, Family Representatives; Jo Reed,
Lynne Mason, Anya Por, Beth Hartnett & Spring Hecht, Family Finders;
Bixin Huang, Elizabeth Rose, Alicia Akins, Linda Holman, Erin Crooks, Yu
Ping Kuang, China Adoptions; Elana Roschy, India Adoptions; Natalia
Powers, Korea Adoptions; Andrea Carruthers, Thailand Adoptions;
Elizabeth Rose, Vietnam Adoptions; Mary K. Duncan, Europe; Jamie
Heirlich, Leah Sullivan, Hailee Hostetler, Russia Adoptions; Claire
Stanton, Megan Cook Nikiema, Carol Mooney, Joel Neier, United States;
Lydia Schmeltzer Post Placement Services; Karen Whitgrove, Becky Dion,
Mary Ann Curran, Zia Freeman, Elaine Cordova, Sue Koentopp, Judith
Hurlburt, Steve Sutton, Jim Vevang, Kate Shchetnikova, Camilla Brooks,
Connie Mancini Haack, Social Services; Leslie Dobias, Elmer Wagner,
Chardernai Wrencher, Child Assistance; Kristine Leander, Martin
Stillion, Sasha Shchetnikov, Michael Schmeltzer, Mary Lindberg, Silvia
Kramar, Communication; Wilson Abbott, Christopher Logan, Irina Vondonos,
Development; Becky Kent-Dobias, Sharon King, Kelly Pinkston, Stephanie
Perkal, Staff Support Services; Lillian Thogerson, Administration.
WACAP
P.O. Box 88948, Seattle, WA 98138
WACAP's toll-free number is 1-800-732-1887. wacap@wacap. org

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Monica,

I read your post about Brooke and it made me horrible sad, for her and her adoptive family in the States...

I am here in Germany... is there still anything what could be done to help Brooke to return to the States...???

I wish I could send the Family something just to let them know that I feel for them... but they have no email in their blog...

All my regards to them and to you...

Andrea

Anonymous said...

I am also saddened to hear about this and a little worried. I have been thinking about using WACAP for my next adoption. Is there any way I can e-mail these folks to hear more about their story?

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