Year-end adoptions brighten Family Court

A judge thanks parents for loving their children and making a difference in the community

By Sarah Zoellick

~~<p>For many parents and caregivers, the day they officially adopt a child serves as a formality — a point when the state recognizes a relationship that in most cases has existed for months, even years. But that doesn't make the event any less special.</p>
<p>"I tell the families, ‘What we're doing today is basically just formalizing what has already existed with them in terms of the structure of who they are,'" Senior Family Court Judge R. Mark Browning of the First Circuit said in his chambers Friday. "I see these wonderful people overwhelmed by the fact that it's certain now, you know, there's a definitive part to it.</p>
~~

For many parents and caregivers, the day they officially adopt a child serves as a formality — a point when the state recognizes a relationship that in most cases has existed for months, even years. But that doesn't make the event any less special.

"I tell the families, ‘What we're doing today is basically just formalizing what has already existed with them in terms of the structure of who they are,'" Senior Family Court Judge R. Mark Browning of the First Circuit said in his chambers Friday. "I see these wonderful people overwhelmed by the fact that it's certain now, you know, there's a definitive part to it. Login for more...