Becoming parents, for most people, is easy to do but sometimes there are issues and one or both parents to be are not able to have children in a natural way. If that is the case many will choose options such as adoption or surrogates. For most people either of those options will go smoothly but what if the Mother to be is Pagan and the Father to be is Catholic?
This is part 1 of a story that really started in 2006 when the couple I will call Jane and John met and fell in love in Reno NV. By 2008 the couple was married and wanted to start a family but they would be unsuccessful. Jane was heart broken and John felt his wife’s pain in everything she did. In 2009 the couple decided to move to Tacoma WA and to start their family there by way of adoption.
Once they arrived in Tacoma in early 2010 they jumped right into getting everything together and established for the adoption. To say it nicely the couple ran into several snags along the way and after putting in their application they had to with draw. At one point a DSHS worker told Jane that there are no children in Washington state that are legally free and that do not have a permanency plan in place. This frustrated Jane as she knew that this was not true and had been in contact with the North West Adoption Exchange, which deals with special needs children who are legally free for adoption and wards of the state. Jane and John were very interested in these children as special needs does not always mean mentally or physically handicapped, it often means that the child is over the age of 5 or part of a sibling group.
Throughout the year of 2012 Jane and John waited and planed for when they would be able to resubmit their foster care and adoption. There is a complication though. Jane is Pagan and John is Catholic. The state claims that a persons religion is not an issue, however it did come up in Jane’s interview when the couple had applied in 2011. This leaves the couple looking into private adoption agencies, most of which are religious. Jane has recently decided to talk to some of the Catholic agencies to see what they have to see. Until we here back from Jane and John we offer them our positive thoughts and prayers.
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