Announcement, Press Release |
Twelve children will join eight permanent, loving families this Friday during a National Adoption Day ceremony at the Richard J. Daley Center.
The annual celebration, regarded by Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans as the “happiest day of the year” at the Daley Center, will be presided over by the Hon. Maureen Ward Kirby, Presiding Judge of the County Division, along with the Hon. Araceli De La Cruz, the Hon. Anna Loftus and the Hon. Mary Trew. The ceremony, which will include cake, stuffed animals, balloons, tears and laughter, will begin at 10 a.m. Friday, in Courtroom 1703 of the Daley Center, 50 W. Washington Street. Media is welcome and encouraged to RSVP in advance.
Participating families have agreed to share their stories to help raise awareness to the thousands of children in Illinois waiting for permanent homes.
“Adoption is so important to the welfare of these children – it makes them feel safe, secure and happy in loving ‘forever homes,’” Judge Evans said. “We hope that this ceremony will encourage more adoptions in Cook County, so that more children who need homes can be blessed with this special bond.”
This year’s ceremony will include an Orland Park couple who spent years trying to have a child before Nani came into their lives. After fertility treatments failed, Erin and Sean Brown had decided to give up on trying to have a child and just be a two-person family, said Erin Brown. Then they learned about Nani, who had tragically lost both her parents and her step-father at a
young age.
Brown remembers the moment Nani first came to their home. “She came running up to my door into my arms… ” Brown said. “It was love at first sight.”
The Browns navigated several procedural steps during the adoption process for Nani, now a seven-year-old first-grader who is autistic and has special needs, which took three years to complete. The family recently traveled to Disney World to celebrate but will return in time for Friday’s ceremony.
“I tell Nani she is my heart, and I can’t live without my heart,” said Erin Brown.
Another couple, Beatriz Ramirez and David Velazquez, will adopt three siblings — Guadalupe, Angela and Victor Manuel Camacho. Their attorney, Genie Gillespie, said adoptions involving older children and sibling groups are especially meaningful because such children often wait longer for permanent homes.
Gillespie said that the number of babies available for adoption has decreased over the years because both the birth rate and teen pregnancy have declined, and there is less of a stigma on single parenthood. So it is more important than ever for people looking to foster or adopt children to consider older children who need homes, Gillespie said.
Judge Ward Kirby thanked the agencies, adoptive families and counsel that will make the joyful ceremony possible.
“The judges of the County Division are honored to participate in this legal milestone for these eight families,” Judge Ward Kirby said. “We applaud each family’s commitment, fortitude and love in creating a permanent home for these twelve deserving children. National Adoption Day is a powerful reminder that family is not defined solely by DNA but rather by choice and who loves you.”
National Adoption Day was founded by adoption agencies and child-welfare advocates to raise awareness of the more than 113,000 children waiting to be adopted from foster care in the U.S.
Media Contact: ocj.press@cookcountyil.gov
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