Statehouse event brings adoption awareness

Child welfare advocates, legislators and community members gathered Nov. 30 at the Statehouse for Ohio Adoption Advocacy Day.

The purpose of the event is to celebrate those who have chosen to expand their families through adoption and to bring awareness to children who are still waiting to be adopted, said Rita Soronen, executive director of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

Nearly 3,000 children in Ohio are available for adoption, according to the foundation.
Through Adoption Advocacy Day, “we not only give them a voice, we give them hope,” Soronen said.

State Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, and State Rep. Linda Bolon, D-Columbiana, said being adopted as children made a positive difference in their lives.

“I always try to bring up my history and the fact that I was adopted and the fact that there are some really special stories out there,” said Husted, incoming Secretary of State.

Adoption helps bring stability to the lives of children who have been in foster care, Husted said.

Among children who age out of foster care, 48 percent become unemployed in the first 12 to 16 months, and 25 percent experience homelessness within four year years after leaving care, according to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

“Adoption’s not just something we need to do for the child, it’s something we need to do for society, for America, for Ohio,” Husted said.

Bolon shared her story of being adopted by a loving family in Cleveland. When she discovered as an adult that she couldn’t conceive, she and her husband Bill adopted two daughters.

“Adoption was the natural thing to do,” Bolon said.

Columbus residents Michelle and Bill Norris, who have two biological daughters, shared their experience of expanding their family by adopting two boys and a girl in 1995.

Michelle said she doesn’t mind answering questions when people notice that her children look different.

“I like to talk about adoption with people I meet,” she said, “because the more people know about it, the more people are interested in it.”

Michelle’s adopted son Michael, 21, said he knew he wanted to become a part of the Norris family when he first met them at age 5.
“The feeling of finally belonging to a family was indescribable,” he said.

Nearly 40 percent of American adults, or 81.5 million people, have considered adopting a child, according to the National Adoption Attitudes Survey commissioned by the Dave Thomas Foundation.

“Most people do not know that there are children right here in your city, right here in your neighborhood that are waiting to be adopted,” said Cindy Deal, executive director of Northeast Ohio Adoption Services, “and that is a message that we have to get out.”