Sunday, June 25, 2006
Gee, ya think?!
Key to long life may be mom's age at birth
Children born to women younger than 25 live longer, researchers report
Updated: 6:48 p.m. ET June 23, 2006
NEW YORK - People are more likely to see their 100th birthday, research hints, if they were born to young mothers.
The age at which a mother gives birth has a major impact on how long her child will live, two researchers from the University of Chicago's Center on Aging told the Chicago Actuarial Association meeting this spring.
In a previous study, the husband and wife research team of Gavrilov and Gavrilova identified birth order as a possible predictor of an exceptionally long life. They observed that first-born children, especially daughters, are much more likely to live to age 100.
But their latest research suggests that it is the young age of the mother, rather than birth order, which is significant to longevity.
Using U.S. Census data, the Social Security Administration database, and genealogical records, Gavrilov and Gavrilova identified 198 centenarians born in the U.S. from 1890 to 1893. They reconstructed the family histories of these individuals to try to identify possible predictors of longevity.
They found that while being born to a young mother was an important predictor of reaching 100, other factors seem to help someone live an exceptionally long life. These include growing up in the Western part of the U.S., spending part of one's childhood on a farm, and being born first.
"Centenarians represent the fastest growing age group in industrialized countries, yet factors predicting exceptional longevity and its time trends remain to be fully understood," Gavrilov and Gavrilova note.
-----------------------
And yet since second-wave feminism women are encouraged to postpone childbearing later and later! and our culture still sees ‘young mothers” as somehow less ‘sophisticated’ at the least!
What is interesting is that all these things change over time – like breastfeeding practices. What was once thought very unsophisticated and wealthy people shunned, is now not only more popular but the health benefits are so conclusive that a recent report I read suggested warnings like on cigarettes for baby formula! In the end nature usually knows best and “culture” screw it up! The less you mess with mother nature, usually the best! our cultural beliefs however are as hard to change as it is for some Africans to stop circumcising women... despite the health warnings. We look at that as so bizarre – some of our accepted practices are just as crazy.
And why is it that is perfectly OK to criticize young mothers as incapable, selfish etc...”babies having babies”...and not OK to say anything aloud about 40 year (and older!) women having babies! what a screwed up country! withhold birth control and abortion access...tell young people to “just say no” AS IF – and then punish them and take away their kids of they have an “accident.” so screwed up!!!
I cannot help wonder how much of this BS anyone really believes and how much is just to keep the adoption assembly line running...
Children born to women younger than 25 live longer, researchers report
Updated: 6:48 p.m. ET June 23, 2006
NEW YORK - People are more likely to see their 100th birthday, research hints, if they were born to young mothers.
The age at which a mother gives birth has a major impact on how long her child will live, two researchers from the University of Chicago's Center on Aging told the Chicago Actuarial Association meeting this spring.
In a previous study, the husband and wife research team of Gavrilov and Gavrilova identified birth order as a possible predictor of an exceptionally long life. They observed that first-born children, especially daughters, are much more likely to live to age 100.
But their latest research suggests that it is the young age of the mother, rather than birth order, which is significant to longevity.
Using U.S. Census data, the Social Security Administration database, and genealogical records, Gavrilov and Gavrilova identified 198 centenarians born in the U.S. from 1890 to 1893. They reconstructed the family histories of these individuals to try to identify possible predictors of longevity.
They found that while being born to a young mother was an important predictor of reaching 100, other factors seem to help someone live an exceptionally long life. These include growing up in the Western part of the U.S., spending part of one's childhood on a farm, and being born first.
"Centenarians represent the fastest growing age group in industrialized countries, yet factors predicting exceptional longevity and its time trends remain to be fully understood," Gavrilov and Gavrilova note.
-----------------------
And yet since second-wave feminism women are encouraged to postpone childbearing later and later! and our culture still sees ‘young mothers” as somehow less ‘sophisticated’ at the least!
What is interesting is that all these things change over time – like breastfeeding practices. What was once thought very unsophisticated and wealthy people shunned, is now not only more popular but the health benefits are so conclusive that a recent report I read suggested warnings like on cigarettes for baby formula! In the end nature usually knows best and “culture” screw it up! The less you mess with mother nature, usually the best! our cultural beliefs however are as hard to change as it is for some Africans to stop circumcising women... despite the health warnings. We look at that as so bizarre – some of our accepted practices are just as crazy.
And why is it that is perfectly OK to criticize young mothers as incapable, selfish etc...”babies having babies”...and not OK to say anything aloud about 40 year (and older!) women having babies! what a screwed up country! withhold birth control and abortion access...tell young people to “just say no” AS IF – and then punish them and take away their kids of they have an “accident.” so screwed up!!!
I cannot help wonder how much of this BS anyone really believes and how much is just to keep the adoption assembly line running...
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Pick a Winner!
Pick the winning title of my forthcoming book.... or, better yet, suggest something catchy...
Winner gets a free autographed book!
1. The Unregulated Adoption Industry: Can it be fixed?
2. Billion Dollar Babies: The Unregulated Adoption Industry
3. Money, Myth and Adoption: An Unregulated Industry
4. Brokering Babies: The Unregulated Adoption Industry
5. American Adoption: An Unregulated Multi-Billion Dollar Industry
6. An Unregulated Multi-Billion Dollar Industry: Can Adoption be saved?
7. Stalking the Stork: The Unregulated Adoption Industry
8. Owning Up: The Multi-Billion Dollar Unregulated Adoption Industry
9. Infant Inflation: The Multi-Billion Dollar Unregulated Adoption Industry
10. Adoption Corruption: The Multi-Billion Dollar Unregulated Adoption Industry
11. The Baby Chase: The Multi-Billion Dollar Unregulated Adoption Industry
12. The Stork Market: The Multi-Billion Dollar Unregulated Adoption Industry
You can also help pick a book cover design idea...by clicking here.
Winner gets a free autographed book!
1. The Unregulated Adoption Industry: Can it be fixed?
2. Billion Dollar Babies: The Unregulated Adoption Industry
3. Money, Myth and Adoption: An Unregulated Industry
4. Brokering Babies: The Unregulated Adoption Industry
5. American Adoption: An Unregulated Multi-Billion Dollar Industry
6. An Unregulated Multi-Billion Dollar Industry: Can Adoption be saved?
7. Stalking the Stork: The Unregulated Adoption Industry
8. Owning Up: The Multi-Billion Dollar Unregulated Adoption Industry
9. Infant Inflation: The Multi-Billion Dollar Unregulated Adoption Industry
10. Adoption Corruption: The Multi-Billion Dollar Unregulated Adoption Industry
11. The Baby Chase: The Multi-Billion Dollar Unregulated Adoption Industry
12. The Stork Market: The Multi-Billion Dollar Unregulated Adoption Industry
You can also help pick a book cover design idea...by clicking here.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Where is King Solomon?
I wonder if these people are hailed as do-gooders!! The state the the boy has not seen his mother in years – and whose fault is that! Mirah
----------------------------------------------------
Court Orders More Proceedings in Five-year Adoption Case
June 7th, 2006 @ 6:47am
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- An adoption battle that has gone on for five years is still not over, with the Utah Supreme Court ordering further hearings.
The boy, identified in court as E.H., was born in 2000. His mother, who agreed to the adoption, later felt she was deceived about the Weber County couple's suitability and has battled them for his custody.
The Utah Supreme Court on Tuesday criticized how long the case has gone on.
"The proceeding in this court is the latest, but sadly not the last, act in a very human saga that has played out on the stage of our eight courts," Justice Ronald E. Nehring wrote in the unanimous opinion. "Despite our determination that we must remand this case for further proceedings, we hold fast to the hope that in the near future E.H. will know who his parents will be and where he will call home."
The court reversed a 2004 Utah Court of Appeals ruling in the mother's favor.
Attorney Greg Hawkins, who represents the adoptive couple, said, "Now that we've got to this point, we're very comfortable and confident that everything is going to be resolved in our favor."
He said the boy has not visited with his biological mother for years.
Attorney Linda Faye Smith, who represented the mother in the appeal, did not comment late Tuesday.
The case began in 2000 when E.H.'s mother, identified as T.H., contacted the Adoption Law Center in California about placing her unborn child for adoption, Tuesday's opinion said.
The Utah couple, identified as R.C. and S.C., had been determined in a home study by Families for Children in Salt Lake City, to be eligible to adopt a child.
The mother and couple were put in contact with each other, and an adoption was arranged. On Nov. 24, 2000, the woman flew to Utah to give birth, and then signed a document relinquishing her rights to the baby.
E.H. was to become the sixth child in the adoptive family, which included two adopted special needs children.
T.H. and her two other children then lived with the adoptive parents after the birth, according to the opinion. During that time, the mother came to question the assessment of the couple.
For example, the mother allegedly observed the adoptive parents' other children were not the honor students she was led to believe but were home schooled, and, in her opinion, behind in their education.
The mother said she was also concerned about their social development, claiming the children appeared to have no healthy relationships outside the family and that the children with disabilities seemed to be isolated from the family.
T.H. moved out and filed a petition seeking custody of E.H.
Second District Judge Stanton Taylor allowed both sides to strike an agreement in which a child psychologist would make a biding determination of what was in the boy's best interests. Chris Wehl was hired, and, after taking a year to compile his report, recommended the child be returned to his birth mother. Wehl said the couple's two children with cerebral palsy and Down syndrome had experienced possible neglect.
Taylor had retired. New judge Ernest Jones said there were inaccuracies in Wehl's report, ruled the mother's relinquishment was valid and then held an adoption hearing in which he refused to allow the mother to participate.
The Utah Court of Appeals reversed Jones' decision, saying he was not justified in disregarding the agreement and ordering the boy's placement with his biological mother.
In their decision Tuesday, the justices held the agreement had not stripped the judge of his power to rule in the case, but said Jones should have allowed the mother to participate in the adoption hearing.
Tuesday's opinion sends the case back to Jones for further hearings.
Attorney Melvin Larew, who represented Families for Children and is a former board member, said the allegations that the home study was flawed are unfounded.
Larew said the opinion is an important one for Utah's adoption law.
"It clarifies the procedure, unfortunately at the expense of not having this case resolved," he said.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
----------------------------------------------------
Court Orders More Proceedings in Five-year Adoption Case
June 7th, 2006 @ 6:47am
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- An adoption battle that has gone on for five years is still not over, with the Utah Supreme Court ordering further hearings.
The boy, identified in court as E.H., was born in 2000. His mother, who agreed to the adoption, later felt she was deceived about the Weber County couple's suitability and has battled them for his custody.
The Utah Supreme Court on Tuesday criticized how long the case has gone on.
"The proceeding in this court is the latest, but sadly not the last, act in a very human saga that has played out on the stage of our eight courts," Justice Ronald E. Nehring wrote in the unanimous opinion. "Despite our determination that we must remand this case for further proceedings, we hold fast to the hope that in the near future E.H. will know who his parents will be and where he will call home."
The court reversed a 2004 Utah Court of Appeals ruling in the mother's favor.
Attorney Greg Hawkins, who represents the adoptive couple, said, "Now that we've got to this point, we're very comfortable and confident that everything is going to be resolved in our favor."
He said the boy has not visited with his biological mother for years.
Attorney Linda Faye Smith, who represented the mother in the appeal, did not comment late Tuesday.
The case began in 2000 when E.H.'s mother, identified as T.H., contacted the Adoption Law Center in California about placing her unborn child for adoption, Tuesday's opinion said.
The Utah couple, identified as R.C. and S.C., had been determined in a home study by Families for Children in Salt Lake City, to be eligible to adopt a child.
The mother and couple were put in contact with each other, and an adoption was arranged. On Nov. 24, 2000, the woman flew to Utah to give birth, and then signed a document relinquishing her rights to the baby.
E.H. was to become the sixth child in the adoptive family, which included two adopted special needs children.
T.H. and her two other children then lived with the adoptive parents after the birth, according to the opinion. During that time, the mother came to question the assessment of the couple.
For example, the mother allegedly observed the adoptive parents' other children were not the honor students she was led to believe but were home schooled, and, in her opinion, behind in their education.
The mother said she was also concerned about their social development, claiming the children appeared to have no healthy relationships outside the family and that the children with disabilities seemed to be isolated from the family.
T.H. moved out and filed a petition seeking custody of E.H.
Second District Judge Stanton Taylor allowed both sides to strike an agreement in which a child psychologist would make a biding determination of what was in the boy's best interests. Chris Wehl was hired, and, after taking a year to compile his report, recommended the child be returned to his birth mother. Wehl said the couple's two children with cerebral palsy and Down syndrome had experienced possible neglect.
Taylor had retired. New judge Ernest Jones said there were inaccuracies in Wehl's report, ruled the mother's relinquishment was valid and then held an adoption hearing in which he refused to allow the mother to participate.
The Utah Court of Appeals reversed Jones' decision, saying he was not justified in disregarding the agreement and ordering the boy's placement with his biological mother.
In their decision Tuesday, the justices held the agreement had not stripped the judge of his power to rule in the case, but said Jones should have allowed the mother to participate in the adoption hearing.
Tuesday's opinion sends the case back to Jones for further hearings.
Attorney Melvin Larew, who represented Families for Children and is a former board member, said the allegations that the home study was flawed are unfounded.
Larew said the opinion is an important one for Utah's adoption law.
"It clarifies the procedure, unfortunately at the expense of not having this case resolved," he said.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Books, Books, and More Books....
Books by, and about, birthmothers (in no order whatsoever, and not necessarily a complete list):
1. With Courage & Love: A Journal for Birthmother's by Janet Sieff
2. To Prison With Love by Sandy Musser
3. I Would Have Searched Forever by Sandy Musser
4. Birthmothers: Women Who Have Relinquished Babies for Adoption Tell Their Stories by Merry Bloch Jones
5. Healing the Hole in A Heart: One Birthmother's Journey into the Adoption Triangle
6. Soul Connection: Memoir of A Birthmother's Healing Journey by Ann H. Hughes
7. Shadow Mothers: Stories of Adoption and Reunion by Linda Back McKay
8. Healing the Hole in A Heart: One Birthmother's Journey into the Adoption Triangle by Nancy Mac Isaac
9. Dear Birthmother by Kathleen Silber
10. shedding light on…The Dark Side of Adoption, Mirah Riben
11. Birthmark Lorraine Dusky
12. Violets Blooming in a Late Spring Snow: A Birthmother Reflects on Adoption by Jacqueline Ramthun, Robin Mueller, Patricia Hoolihan, and Jessica A. Johnson
13. Reunion: A Year in Letters Between a Birthmother and the Daughter She Couldn't Keep by Katie Hern and Ellen McGarry Carlson
14. Reaching Out: The Guide to Writing a Terrific Dear Birthmother Letter by Nelson Handel
15. Adopted Like Me: Chosen to Search for Truth, Identity, and a Birthmother by Michael C. Watson
16. Thank You Son for Finding Me: A Birthmother's Story by Beth J. Kane
17. Letters to My Birthmother: An Adoptee's Diary of Her Search for Her Identity by Amy E. Dean
18. Torn from the Heart: The Amazing True Story of a Birthmother's Search for Her Lost Daughter by Louise Jurgens
19. Dear Linda: An Adoptive Fathers Open Letter to the Birthmother of His Child by Anonymous
20. Early contact in adoption: Contact between birthmothers and adoptive parents at the time of and after the adoption by Clare Dominick
21. Predicting contact over time between adoptive parents and birthmothers in the open adoptive kinship network by Susan Margaret Wolfgram
22. A Birthmother's Book of Memories by Brenda Romanchik
23. A birthmother speaks out with an opened heart: A little book with a contemporary message for anyone touched by adoption by Susan Van Sleet
24. Adoption love stories: True stories by birthmothers, adoptive parents-- by Marcia Rhone
25. The Adoption Reader: Birth Mothers, Adoptive Mothers, and Adopted Daughters Tell Their Stories by Susan Wadia-Ells
26. The Other Mother: A True Story by Carol Schaefer
27. Wake up Littlee Susie by Rickie Solinger
28. Beggers and Coosers by Rickie Solinger
29. Adoption and Loss: The Hidden Grief by Evelyn Robinson
30. Adoption Recovery: Solving the mystery of reunion by Evelyn Robinson
31. The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler
1. With Courage & Love: A Journal for Birthmother's by Janet Sieff
2. To Prison With Love by Sandy Musser
3. I Would Have Searched Forever by Sandy Musser
4. Birthmothers: Women Who Have Relinquished Babies for Adoption Tell Their Stories by Merry Bloch Jones
5. Healing the Hole in A Heart: One Birthmother's Journey into the Adoption Triangle
6. Soul Connection: Memoir of A Birthmother's Healing Journey by Ann H. Hughes
7. Shadow Mothers: Stories of Adoption and Reunion by Linda Back McKay
8. Healing the Hole in A Heart: One Birthmother's Journey into the Adoption Triangle by Nancy Mac Isaac
9. Dear Birthmother by Kathleen Silber
10. shedding light on…The Dark Side of Adoption, Mirah Riben
11. Birthmark Lorraine Dusky
12. Violets Blooming in a Late Spring Snow: A Birthmother Reflects on Adoption by Jacqueline Ramthun, Robin Mueller, Patricia Hoolihan, and Jessica A. Johnson
13. Reunion: A Year in Letters Between a Birthmother and the Daughter She Couldn't Keep by Katie Hern and Ellen McGarry Carlson
14. Reaching Out: The Guide to Writing a Terrific Dear Birthmother Letter by Nelson Handel
15. Adopted Like Me: Chosen to Search for Truth, Identity, and a Birthmother by Michael C. Watson
16. Thank You Son for Finding Me: A Birthmother's Story by Beth J. Kane
17. Letters to My Birthmother: An Adoptee's Diary of Her Search for Her Identity by Amy E. Dean
18. Torn from the Heart: The Amazing True Story of a Birthmother's Search for Her Lost Daughter by Louise Jurgens
19. Dear Linda: An Adoptive Fathers Open Letter to the Birthmother of His Child by Anonymous
20. Early contact in adoption: Contact between birthmothers and adoptive parents at the time of and after the adoption by Clare Dominick
21. Predicting contact over time between adoptive parents and birthmothers in the open adoptive kinship network by Susan Margaret Wolfgram
22. A Birthmother's Book of Memories by Brenda Romanchik
23. A birthmother speaks out with an opened heart: A little book with a contemporary message for anyone touched by adoption by Susan Van Sleet
24. Adoption love stories: True stories by birthmothers, adoptive parents-- by Marcia Rhone
25. The Adoption Reader: Birth Mothers, Adoptive Mothers, and Adopted Daughters Tell Their Stories by Susan Wadia-Ells
26. The Other Mother: A True Story by Carol Schaefer
27. Wake up Littlee Susie by Rickie Solinger
28. Beggers and Coosers by Rickie Solinger
29. Adoption and Loss: The Hidden Grief by Evelyn Robinson
30. Adoption Recovery: Solving the mystery of reunion by Evelyn Robinson
31. The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler
Monday, June 05, 2006
WANTED - SUPPORT FOR ADOPTEE ACCESS!
PLEASE FORWARD FREELY!
WANTED - SUPPORT FOR ADOPTEE ACCESS!
All parents willing to acknowledge publicly their support for
adoptee access to identifying birth information,
please contact AAC.
Your willingness to add your name to a list of supporters will
contradict the myth that birthparents fear contact.
Names may be used in state-by-state legislative efforts to enact
legislative reform.
Send your name, state in which you relinquished, and date of
relinquishment to Carolyn Hoard, choard@comcast.net
ALSO: Please do not forget to take the survet at: www.BirthParentProject.org
WANTED - SUPPORT FOR ADOPTEE ACCESS!
All parents willing to acknowledge publicly their support for
adoptee access to identifying birth information,
please contact AAC.
Your willingness to add your name to a list of supporters will
contradict the myth that birthparents fear contact.
Names may be used in state-by-state legislative efforts to enact
legislative reform.
Send your name, state in which you relinquished, and date of
relinquishment to Carolyn Hoard, choard@comcast.net
ALSO: Please do not forget to take the survet at: www.BirthParentProject.org
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Please pass this on...
Kasie Overcash, 19, is looking for her mother. Kasie was found abandoned on a Sunday afternoon, March 1, 1987, in a blue-gray towel in a bathroom sink at Charlotte's University Memorial Hospital (now Carolinas Medical Center-University).
Newspapers called baby X, burses called her Baby Rhonda. When the Department of Social Services took over, her birth certificate -- for reasons no one seems to recall -- read Anna Catherine Bailey.
According to 1987 news stories, Kasie may have been snatched from her sleeping mother and left in the hospital bathroom by someone else.
Police said a woman contacted them the day after the baby was abandoned.
"How can we get the baby back?" the woman demanded.
When police asked the whereabouts of the mother, the caller hung up.
A plea went out for information. Nobody called.
This scene is, of course, at the heart of Kasie's curiosity.
If you are Kasie's birth mother and you dial this number (980-721-8103): Please, don't hang up on this second chance -- at life, at Kasie. She wants to find you!
Dannye: (704) 358-5230; dpowell@charlotteobserver.com
Newspapers called baby X, burses called her Baby Rhonda. When the Department of Social Services took over, her birth certificate -- for reasons no one seems to recall -- read Anna Catherine Bailey.
According to 1987 news stories, Kasie may have been snatched from her sleeping mother and left in the hospital bathroom by someone else.
Police said a woman contacted them the day after the baby was abandoned.
"How can we get the baby back?" the woman demanded.
When police asked the whereabouts of the mother, the caller hung up.
A plea went out for information. Nobody called.
This scene is, of course, at the heart of Kasie's curiosity.
If you are Kasie's birth mother and you dial this number (980-721-8103): Please, don't hang up on this second chance -- at life, at Kasie. She wants to find you!
Dannye: (704) 358-5230; dpowell@charlotteobserver.com
Class, Ageism, and Entitlement
This story speaks volumes about class, ageism, entitlement, and langauage: wealthy/"fetid" which means stnking.
Wealthy woman accused of swiping baby
Fri Jun 2, 11:10 AM ET
Police say a wealthy woman kidnapped a 7-week-old baby after the infant's teenage mother refused a $6,000 offer for the child. Annette Pinkard, a 47-year-old real estate professional from the Dallas area, was being held in Texas along with her cousin, Sylvia Nunn, 53.
Authorities say the women saw the baby, Devon Calloway, with his 17-year-old mother at a store last month and offered to buy the child. Dominique Calloway said she refused their offer but let the women drive her home.
Two days later, the women returned, and when Calloway allowed them to hold Devon, they took the baby a drove off, authorities said.
Pinkard's attorney, Scottie Allen, disputed that account, saying Calloway agreed to let the boy go and even signed a form relinquishing her parental rights.
Nunn, who lives in Compton, California while Pinkcard lives in Midlothian, Texas "with her husband" in what has been described as "a sprawling, manor-style home with a three-car garage, circular driveway and backyard pool."
Authorities came across Devon's 2-year-old sister "unaccompanied and running around outside." They found the mother, went home with her to a fetid duplex and offered to adopt both children, he said.
Pinkard was "scared to death" when she learned about the kidnapping investigation while driving back to Texas with Devon, he said. He said she had planned to return to California to apply to a court for adoption.
Dominique Calloway denied allowing her baby to be taken.
"I didn't sign no papers. They lie," she said.
Pinkard and Nunn are charged with one count each of kidnapping and child stealing, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. They were arrested May 24.
Los Angeles Police Detective Maria Rivas said other mothers, also black and poor, had come forward to say that Pinkard had previously tried to buy their babies.
Pinkard had been convicted of forgery in 2000, which her attorney acknowledged. Nunn's attorney said his client also has a criminal record but not an extremely serious one. The forgery charges howver, Pinkards's atonrey said could cast doubt on any agreement she alleges Calloway signed.
Meanwhile, the LA Times headlines this story: Snatched or Rescued? Baby Is Caught Between 2 Worlds
Wealthy Dallas woman accused of kidnapping the child in South L.A. says the mother wanted a better life for the boy. Police are skeptical.
A mission of mercy? Or a bungled baby-napping?
The players disagree about what happened on an L.A. street last week, when a baby born into South-Central poverty was allegedly snatched from his teenage mother and spirited away to a swanky Dallas suburb.
This is in NO WAY and adoption!! And now this child, as well as calloway's 2-year-old instead of simply being returned to his mother, is being kept a prisoner because of his mother's poverty!
Calloway said she needs help! She needs a job, education. But the American way of helping is taking her kids away...legal when done by the state.
Notice too that race is only mentioned in regard to the other "poor single mothers" they approached, neglecting to mention that the abductors are themselves African American.
Letters can be submitted online to the LA Times at:
http://www.latimes.com/services/site/la-comment-oped,0,5293584.htmlstory
Wealthy woman accused of swiping baby
Fri Jun 2, 11:10 AM ET
Police say a wealthy woman kidnapped a 7-week-old baby after the infant's teenage mother refused a $6,000 offer for the child. Annette Pinkard, a 47-year-old real estate professional from the Dallas area, was being held in Texas along with her cousin, Sylvia Nunn, 53.
Authorities say the women saw the baby, Devon Calloway, with his 17-year-old mother at a store last month and offered to buy the child. Dominique Calloway said she refused their offer but let the women drive her home.
Two days later, the women returned, and when Calloway allowed them to hold Devon, they took the baby a drove off, authorities said.
Pinkard's attorney, Scottie Allen, disputed that account, saying Calloway agreed to let the boy go and even signed a form relinquishing her parental rights.
Nunn, who lives in Compton, California while Pinkcard lives in Midlothian, Texas "with her husband" in what has been described as "a sprawling, manor-style home with a three-car garage, circular driveway and backyard pool."
Authorities came across Devon's 2-year-old sister "unaccompanied and running around outside." They found the mother, went home with her to a fetid duplex and offered to adopt both children, he said.
Pinkard was "scared to death" when she learned about the kidnapping investigation while driving back to Texas with Devon, he said. He said she had planned to return to California to apply to a court for adoption.
Dominique Calloway denied allowing her baby to be taken.
"I didn't sign no papers. They lie," she said.
Pinkard and Nunn are charged with one count each of kidnapping and child stealing, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. They were arrested May 24.
Los Angeles Police Detective Maria Rivas said other mothers, also black and poor, had come forward to say that Pinkard had previously tried to buy their babies.
Pinkard had been convicted of forgery in 2000, which her attorney acknowledged. Nunn's attorney said his client also has a criminal record but not an extremely serious one. The forgery charges howver, Pinkards's atonrey said could cast doubt on any agreement she alleges Calloway signed.
Meanwhile, the LA Times headlines this story: Snatched or Rescued? Baby Is Caught Between 2 Worlds
Wealthy Dallas woman accused of kidnapping the child in South L.A. says the mother wanted a better life for the boy. Police are skeptical.
A mission of mercy? Or a bungled baby-napping?
The players disagree about what happened on an L.A. street last week, when a baby born into South-Central poverty was allegedly snatched from his teenage mother and spirited away to a swanky Dallas suburb.
This is in NO WAY and adoption!! And now this child, as well as calloway's 2-year-old instead of simply being returned to his mother, is being kept a prisoner because of his mother's poverty!
Calloway said she needs help! She needs a job, education. But the American way of helping is taking her kids away...legal when done by the state.
Notice too that race is only mentioned in regard to the other "poor single mothers" they approached, neglecting to mention that the abductors are themselves African American.
Letters can be submitted online to the LA Times at:
http://www.latimes.com/services/site/la-comment-oped,0,5293584.htmlstory
Friday, June 02, 2006
PEACE
My friends in the adoption community may or may not know that my other great "cause" is world peace. I actually maintain another blog for that. I was at a meeting tonight of a local peace activism group. The speaker spoke about the history of movements from the 60’s to the present, leading into an open discussion or brain storming session on where to go from here, how to coalesce the (peace) movement and focus it...with several comments about what a shame it is how divided against itself and fill of schisms "the movement" is.
One person spoke about the attempts (once again) to establish a national Department of Peace off the ground. There was division on this issue. Some supported it, and others thought it “silly” and basically a waste of effort. The reasons were very analogous to our struggles, as it boiled down to a question of: do you work to make changes from within a (corrupt) system, or not. Kinda like the question of whether to reform adoption or do away with it.
While of course no conclusions were reached, what amazed me was how polite everyone was, The worst word said was “silly.” There was no name calling, No one got offended, not even the person who put forth the DOP idea and asked for support on it. No one screamed or stomped out in a huff, nor did I see any side comments being made or snickering.
It was truly amazing to see people discuss an issue in an adult, intelligent fashion and air different points of view, and truly listen to one another.
Maybe there’s more hope for world peace than there is to reconstruct adoption!
One person spoke about the attempts (once again) to establish a national Department of Peace off the ground. There was division on this issue. Some supported it, and others thought it “silly” and basically a waste of effort. The reasons were very analogous to our struggles, as it boiled down to a question of: do you work to make changes from within a (corrupt) system, or not. Kinda like the question of whether to reform adoption or do away with it.
While of course no conclusions were reached, what amazed me was how polite everyone was, The worst word said was “silly.” There was no name calling, No one got offended, not even the person who put forth the DOP idea and asked for support on it. No one screamed or stomped out in a huff, nor did I see any side comments being made or snickering.
It was truly amazing to see people discuss an issue in an adult, intelligent fashion and air different points of view, and truly listen to one another.
Maybe there’s more hope for world peace than there is to reconstruct adoption!
Caution Advised
We need to be very careful when focusing on the pain that adoption loss causes a mother... to be sure that when we stress that, we are very clear that it does not mean we want our children denied their rights because of our pain, or that any of asked for or want anonymity form them.
In vetoing the Connecticut bill that would have allowed acces to adooptees over age 21, Gov. M. Jodi Rell said: "The struggle a woman faces in making the decision to give up a child for adoption cannot easily or adequately be described in a gubernatorial veto message or in the staid language of a state statute."
This is a perfect indication of how our pain and suffering is used against our kids...
In vetoing the Connecticut bill that would have allowed acces to adooptees over age 21, Gov. M. Jodi Rell said: "The struggle a woman faces in making the decision to give up a child for adoption cannot easily or adequately be described in a gubernatorial veto message or in the staid language of a state statute."
This is a perfect indication of how our pain and suffering is used against our kids...
