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.
"No one can take this away from them, and that means so much to them and it means a lot to the kids as well."
Browning said he wanted as many families as possible to start 2013 with a sense of togetherness and permanency, so he planned two months ago for the First Circuit Family Court to hear the adoption cases of 53 children Friday.
"It was just something I decided to do because I thought it would be a great thing to do for the community," Browning said. "We have a tough job as judges in this court, we deal with a lot of tough things, and this allows us to be able to close the year with a celebration that really lifts us up."
One of the adoption cases Browning approved Friday afternoon was that of 3-year-old Emma Directo. Emma’s parents picked her up from the Philippines in June 2011 after starting the long, emotionally taxing adoption process in the summer of 2008.
"Emma has been in our hearts (as) our daughter long before she was even born," Martha Directo, 38, testified to Browning. "When we finally picked her up in the Philippines last year in June, it felt natural, like it was meant to be, and now we’d just like to make it official on paper."
Browning told her, "Biology really has nothing to do with being a parent; love has everything to do with being a parent. And you’ve certainly surrounded this beautiful little girl with love, and I can tell."
After approving each adoption, Browning and the six other judges who set aside all other responsibilities Friday to participate in the adoption day invited the children and their young siblings, if they had them, up to their desks to pick out a toy donated by Family Court staff members and receive a balloon and a handmade paper lei.
Emma was shy as Browning helped her pick out a toy, holding up items he thought she was pointing at until he came to the one she wanted: a foam rocket gun.
"We’re trying to make it kind of fun for everybody," Browning said. "It’s a celebration; it’s a party. We really want to enjoy this."
Another family celebrating together Friday was that of 2-year-old Luke Oh, adopted from Korea in April.
"We had some issues with infertility for a long time," Robert Oh, 41, testified. "We just felt that God (was) calling us to adopt because that’s what he calls us (to do) in Scripture."
Oh said it took a long time for he and his wife, Connie, to be paired with their 5-year-old daughter, Emily, also from Korea, but she was home with them by the time she was 9 months old. Luke, on the other hand, was paired with the couple when he was 5 months old and couldn’t be picked up until he was 22 months old.
"We’ve been waiting a long time for just Luke to be a part of our family, and this just makes it complete," Oh said, adding that he is in the Army and that his family is scheduled to move to a new assignment location next summer. "I couldn’t imagine us leaving and then coming back for the adoption finalization, so it was really a blessing to have this."
Browning said he thanks each family who walks into his courtroom to adopt a child not just for making a difference in that child’s life, but for making a difference in the community.
"As a judge in Family Court, I see what happens to kids who are not loved, who were not taken care of … so thank you so much to both of you," he said to the Directo family.
Martha Directo said she was happy to see adoption turn into such a celebrated event.
"Its just so nice to see that adoption is something, you know, that should be seen as more natural," she said. "Not like in the olden days when everything was hush-hush."
Jim and Wanda Scofield, both 54, were so proud of adopting their daughter, Joy Lin, from China when she was 18 months old that they waited until now, when she is 7 years old, to make it official in the U.S. because they wanted her to remember the day.
Joy Lin, who proudly clutched a small American flag in her hand as she walked through the doors of the courtroom before the hearing, said afterward her favorite part was "that everybody loves me."
"Thank you, Mommy," she said, bouncing joyfully out of the courthouse doors in her sparkly yellow dress as the family headed out for noodles and rice at one of her favorite Chinese restaurants.
"You’re welcome, darling," Wanda Scofield said.
