Trying To Adopt What's Not Available for Adoption... What The Fuck Is Up With That?

Once again, I am forced to shake my antlers at the arrogance, stupidity, and hubris of some of you humans when it comes to adoption situations. I sure am glad that in moose culture, we don't have to deal with these things. Somehow, though, I have no doubt that we, being creatures with good sense, would handle the matter in an intelligent way. As in, the way you guys don't.

So, for those of you who are not familiar with adoption laws, they vary from state to state. But there is one federal law that trumps every individual state's laws: The Indian Child Welfare Act.

Enacted in 1978, the ICWA was intended to reduce the number of woo woo children adopted out to Evil Whitey's world. The idea was to correct a long-standing problem: The wholesale removal of these children from their tribe, their heritage, and their family. One cannot argue against removing children from bad parents - those who are addicted to alcohol or drugs, or who are negligent and/or abusive. There's a lot of that on the rez, so there were a lot of removals.

Ultimately, though, the woo woo sproggies oughtn't to be deprived of any knowledge of their heritage and ancestry just because their parents are fuck-ups. Thus, the ICWA was born. It gives the tribe a voice in the disposition of any child that is eligible for enrollment in the tribe. Normally, what that ends up meaning is that the tribe can object to a foster placement or adoption placement with a non-woo woo family.

The family in question today are Heather and Clint Larson. They are Mormons, from Utah. They tried to adopt an infant eligible for enrollment in the Leech Lake Band of the Ojibwe tribe in Minnesota. A few days ago, they had to give the child, whom they had named Talon, back to the tribe.

Bummer, huh?

They are now making the rounds of the talk shows, starting with Good Morning America, and using the internet to "get their story out there." The GMA interview was a piece of racist dreck. They might as well have come right out and said, "We are superior parents because we're white."

So how did the whole mess get to this point? Let's go straight to the horse's mouth: Heather Larson's blog.

They had been told by the adoption agency that the birth mother was 7/8 Irish and 1/8 woo woo. Imagine their alarm when a woman showed up who appeared to be, in Heather's words, "full-blown native." Here they were hoping for sweet Molly Malone with a touch of Pocohantas, and instead they get one of those big-boned dark-complected chicks that looks like she's been smacked in the face with a cast iron skillet.

Bummer, huh?

In any case, they decided to proceed with the adoption plan, even though they found out that she was enrolled in a tribe, this was her fourth child, the baby's father was her husband, and she was on methadone to get her off heroin.

Are those red flags blinding you yet? Me too.

Much is made in the blog about how poor little Talon was born addicted to drugs. I suppose the Larsons would have preferred the alternative, where the birth mother (she does have a name; it's Natasha Roybal) weans off of methadone during the pregnancy and it kills the fetus. Yup, that's right. You can't kick the habit, so to speak, when you can't manage the withdrawal symptoms of the bun in the oven. Well, you can, but some states will charge you with child endangerment, or even manslaughter if the thing croaks.

Managing withdrawal symptoms after the birth, on the other hand, is a piece of cake. But hey, it's far easier to demonize the person who took away your plaything than it is to be fair and admit that she did the right thing by continuing on the methadone.

Demonizing the birthmother wasn't enough for these good Christians, though. Nope, they had to drop a dime on her in Minnesota, too, after they were told that she wasn't going to sign the relinquishment papers. That resulted in a home visit from the Department of Human Services up in Minnesota, where they found her husband Luis and all his dope. The situation inspired them to take custody of her children that were in his care while she was down in Utah whelping.

Now, I realize there are three sides to every adoption-gone-wrong story, the would-be adopters' side, the birthparents' side, and the truth. But no consent to adoption is valid if duress or coercion is involved. And I don't think any sane person can believe that Ms. Roybal willingly signed those papers, given that she was threatened with removal of her other children if she didn't, and in light of the fact that she revoked her consent less than 48 hours later.

I have rambled for a while, but it is time for me to get to the point: This child was not available for adoption, and never would be. The would-be adopters knew before the baby was released from the hospital that the birthmother had revoked her consent, and was asserting her rights under the ICWA. They also had been notified by the tribe that they were claiming jurisdiction, and that they expected the would-be adopters to turn the child over to the tribe immediately.

The Larsons didn't do it. They took the kid home, got all attached to him, and then whined when they had to give him back.

Just another bunch of white folks who are trying to adopt a sprog that ISN'T FUCKING AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION. (Am I the only one flashing back to Anna Mae He?)

Now, we could argue until the cows come home about whether that kid is better off on the rez, or with the Mormon freaks in Utah. Both situations have their positives and their negatives. LDS families tend to be stable and free of substance abuse. They're also notoriously sexist. The woo woo families are sometimes less stable and more plagued with substance abuse. But they can offer him something the white folks in Utah can't. They can give him insight into his heritage, and his place in the universe.

All that arguing is pointless, though. The law is what it is, and it exists for a reason, just as all laws pertaining to adoption exist for a reason: To protect vulnerable birthparents from bullying and exploitation. If you are against those protections, you have no business even thinking about adopting. Yes, I am talking to you, Heather and Clint Larson.

If you don't like the laws, work to have them changed. Start with Schoolhouse Rock. "I'm just a bill, I'm only a bill, and I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill..." In the meantime, stop trying to steal children you are not entitled to.

The would-be adopters then sputter back that this law shouldn't apply, because the kid isn't woo woo enough. Doesn't matter. The ICWA applies to any child eligible for enrollment in a recognized tribe. The Ojibwe folks in Minnesota say Talon is eligible for enrollment. So that's that. End of story.

The next gambit by the would-be adopters is that the child should not have been turned over to the tribe because he would be going into foster care. Doesn't matter. The ICWA does not require reunification with bio parents in order to be invoked. The child can be placed with relatives, other tribal members, or members of another tribe. It is only when none of those four situations can be accomplished that Baby Woo Woo can be placed with a non-woo woo family.

By the by, the foster care is in the same home with his biological siblings that were removed when the Larsons dropped the dime. So there will be family there. It's not like he's being placed with Martians or something.

Is it a cute kid? You be the judge.



Duh. Of course it's cute. I'm sure that's part of the reason they want to adopt it, just like people want to adopt cute Asian kids and cute African kids. But, once more for the cheap seats...

THIS CHILD IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION, AND LIKELY NEVER WILL BE.

Move on, Larson family. Let go of your dreams of Talon, and build your family by finding some white chick to exploit and coerce instead.

Oh, and find a more competent and ethical adoption agency, or you're likely to keep ending up in bad situations. That advice is free, and yet priceless.

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