First lady and others kick off month celebrating adoption

INDIANAPOLIS – It’s hard to imagine wanting to bear children but not being able to.

First Lady Karen Pence experienced this hardship firsthand. For a long time before having their children, the Pences were listed with an adoption agency.

One day, Pence received a call about a young girl who was having a child. The Pences were at the top of the list to adopt the child.

“It just so happened that I was pregnant with our first child,” Pence said. “And so we decided it wouldn’t be right for us to also adopt that child. We knew there were four other couples who were in the running for that child so we took our name out and it was a very difficult decision.”

And so, in order to show her appreciation, Pence is volunteering to help out with National Adoption Month. Pence helped kickoff the event last week at a private reception for foster/adoptive families at the Children’s Museum in Indianapolis.

“It’s near and dear to our hearts because we were in that position where we thought we may not have any children of our own and so this was an opportunity for us to have a family,” Pence said. “And we are so grateful to young girls and young men who say you know we’ll go ahead and give up this baby for adoption because there are a lot of homes that would welcome those children in.”

Mary Beth Bonaventura, director of the Indiana Department of Child Services, said having a National Adoption Month is important because it brings about awareness.

“It makes us aware that there is in fact such a thing and that for those people that are contemplating it or know of others that are interested in adoption it’s a time to be able to gather information and acquire agencies or learn what agencies might be able to assist you,” Bonaventura said.

Bonaventura adopted a child during her time as a judge in Lake County. Sunny, an 11-year-old boy from India, appeared in the courts in Lake County. While visiting the living facility he was staying in, Bonaventura discovered he did not have anyone to spend Thanksgiving with so she and her family took him in.

“It wasn’t something that I went into thinking, you know, I want to adopt. It was just love at first sight for me,” she said. “After I spent that day with him, I didn’t want my life to go on without him. I wanted him to be a part of my life.”

After becoming his legal guardian, Bonaventura married her husband and they both adopted him in 1997. She said this month helps to highlight those children like Sunny and to thank adoptive parents in Indiana. The true reward, she said, is for the adoptive parents.

“It really changed my life in a lot of big ways because I didn’t have kids or a spouse,” she said. “I sat on a lot of boards that met after work time and once he came to life with me I cut all of that out of my life. It kept me home and helped me to stop working a little bit and I really had a real family then.”

James Wide, deputy director of communications for the Indiana Department of Child Services, said the department is currently recruiting families for about 75 to 100 children. This is normal, he said, and November and December have the highest rates of adoption.

“There are usually about 130 adoptions for each month,” he said. “In November 2014 there were 151 adoptions, in November 2013 there were 135 adoptions and 149 adoptions in November 2012.”

On Nov. 16, Gov. Mike Pence and his wife will host the Third Annual Information and Awareness Adoption Fair at the Statehouse. The fair will begin at 4 p.m. in the North Atrium with representatives from DCS and more than a dozen adoption agencies and associations.

For National Adoption Month, the first lady said there are three goals.

“The first one is to celebrate families that have adopted because these families have given permanency to children,” she said. “The other goal is to increase awareness of the Indiana Adoption Program. Then the third reason that we do all this in national adoptive month is to increase awareness for the need for more adoptive homes and especially for older children.”

Another familiar face will be hosting and providing initiatives to adoption events in Indiana. Pro Bowl Cornerback for the Indianapolis Colts, Vontae Davis, was nearly on the verge of entering the foster care system as a child before being taken in and raised by his grandmother.

Davis has shown in previous years his support through holiday shopping spree events and this year he is also adding to these efforts by collaborating with the Department of Child Services. He will also be lending his name and image to photos and correspondence with adoptive parents, potential adoptive parents and youth in the foster care system.

DCS, partnering with the Children’s Bureau and other adoption professionals, will host more than 25 National Adoption Month Celebrations throughout the state.

“I think the thing we’re wanting to do is to bring awareness, especially to a lot of these families who are willing to adopt older children,” Pence said. “We’re encouraging them to share their stories and encouraging others to do the same so it’s an opportunity for families to speak openly about their adoption experience and help others who are wanting to make that same decision.”

 

Article writer Amanda Creech is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.