adoptive parents in 1997 and began processing
the paperwork to adopt as a single parent.
Almost immediately, Hartman was being con­
sidered its an adoptive parent for a 5-month-old
hoy. “ I didn’t get the child," she says. “ A case­
worker for Catholic Charities thought the child
would he better off with another family. I felt like
I’d had a miscarriage. 1 thought: ‘ I see how this
gix's. W h o knows if I’ll ever get a child.’ ’’
But just a few months later, she did.
Her social worker showed her a picture o f a
12-month-old girl named Rosie. Hartman fell
in love and immediately
began the adoption
prexess. Though Rosie
was considered a “ legal
risk” adoption because
her birth parents had
not terminated their
parental rights, Hartman
was willing to proceed.
She became Rosie’s fos­
ter parent in 1997 and
adopted her in 1998.
A ll in all, Hartman says
it wasn’t difficult to
adopt through the state.
Oregon “ is actively working to make adoption
easier for gay and lesbian parents.”
Like Hartman, Portland partners Steve
Wagenhoffer, 42, and M itch Zahn, 44, also
opted for public adoption. “ It was a decision we
came to really quickly and clearly," says Zahn.
“ W e felt like we could he more open about
being gay parents in public adoption.”
In the beginning Wagenhoffer and Zahn were
presented with several children, including biracial
A report released last month by N ew York’s
Adoption Institute indicates things are getting
better. About 60 percent o f adoption agencies
now accept applications from gays and lesbians,
and almost 40 percent have placed children
with gay and lesbian adoptive parents.
Martin applied as a single parent,
while Bond had to wait several
months until the Illinois court
began granting second-parent
adoptions before she could legally
adopt the children.
Cosily considerations
Dealing with
discrimination
ond and Martin also
faced homophobia dur-
J L
ing the processing (if
their son’s adoption. They had
relocated to Portland and were
required to work with agencies in
both states to process the adop­
tion. Searching for an agency in
Illinois to handle the interstate
adoption, Rond says, “ W hen
agencies found out we were two
women adopting, we were shut
down.”
Eventually they located an
agency willing to process the
interstate adoption, hut Bond
says, “ In order tor the agency to
work with a lesbian couple, we
Bonnie Tinker, executive director o f Love Makes a Family,
got taken advantage of.”
chose to become a parent through artificial insemination
Martin explains, “T h e agency
with a known donor
made us pay the fee for an entire
agencies with religious bents that won’t work
adoption, when all they had to do was process
with same-sex couples and birth mothers who
two pieces o f paper."
won’t consider same-sex couples as adoptive
Adoption attorney Sandy Hcxlgson admits
parents,” says Hodgson, who facilitates private
that same-sex couples can face roadblocks dur­
adoptions in her Northeast Portland law firm,
ing the adoption process, especially when
Bouneff and Chally.
adopting internationally. “There are adoption
'Remember wfien music was fun?
ith the cast o f private adoptions
running upward o f $15,000, lack o f
funds can
he a significant road-
bkxk for many couples.
Rut in Oregon cost
dex’sn’t have to he a
defining factor: A d op t­
ing through the state o f
Oregon is free.
“ W e don’t want any
child to grow up with­
out a permanent, loving
home simply because a
family believes it cannot
afford to adopt a child,”
says Marilyn McManus,
adoptions social worker for the Oregon Depart­
ment o f Human Services. “ People don’t need to
have substantial assets or savings to adopt, hut
we would certainly like them to he more than a
few paychecks away from disaster.”
Eight years ago, Portlander Cherry Hartman
decided she was ready to fulfill her longtime
dream o f becoming a mother. “ I had wanted to
adopt for a long time hut was never in the right
relationship or the right place in my career,”
the 56-year-old says. She attended an orienta­
tion session hosted by the state for prospective
W
“Every adult has
the right to choose,
create and structure
their families. If you
want to have children,
you should have
a way to do that.”
—Bonnie Tinker
G mtinued on Page 32
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