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November 24, 2004 Record-Eagle/Lara Neel Grand Traverse County’s family division of circuit court participated in Michigan Adoption Day, finalizing 25 adoptions by 18 families, the second largest number of adoptions in the state. Statewide, more than 300 children were adopted. Tina Hackett holds her newly adopted son, Joseph, 3, after their adoption finalization hearing.
Families finalize adoptions in courtWhole process takes about a yearByRecord-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - Theresa and David Adams have six sons and two daughters, and the couple recently decided to level out the family. The couple's children are 14 to 23 years old and David Adams said he and his wife wanted to try to adopt a girl who was 10 or 11 years old. But when caseworkers at Child and Family Services introduced the couple to two younger children - siblings, a boy and a girl - David and Theresa changed their plans. "We thought about it, and talked about it, and decided to at least meet with them - and we fell in love with them," David Adams said. The children come from a troubled background and Adams did not want to reveal their ages or names. The process took about a year and culminated Tuesday when the adoptions were finalized as part of Michigan Adoption Day. Twenty-five adoptions were finalized in Grand Traverse County Tuesday, among 300 children adopted across Michigan. "We're the second-highest county in the state of the 43 that participated, the only one that was higher was Oakland," said Probate Judge David Stowe, whose court became an adoption assembly line Tuesday morning. The adopted children ranged in age from 6 months to 10 years old. They included a baby that had been dropped off at a hospital, foster parent adoptions and foreign adoptions. "These young people here today that were adopted are more likely to become law-abiding and productive citizens," said Michigan Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Weaver, who presided over two of the adoptions. David Adams, whose first act as their official father was to take the children to see movie box office smash "The Incredibles," said the adoption process was long and involved, but worth it. "It took about a year from the time that we first inquired. We went through a lengthy training process through the state," he said. "Child and Family Services gave a very realistic view of what to expect."
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