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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