Pregnant by Jesus or Abducted for Adoption?
The story of Gilbert Deya, and his "miracle" babies, was first aired on the BBC Radio 4's Face the Facts. Apparently women are traveling from the UK to Nairobi to give "birth" to children in slum clinics.
According to a BBC investigation, Kenyan-born Deya prays over the childless women, some post-menopausal, and they are pronounced pregnant by Jesus. One woman gave birth every four months to a total of eleven children. Talk about faith-based initiatives!
When the British authorities did DNA tests on one of the "miracle" babies, however, the child was found to have no ...
Adoptive Mother Abandons Children in Africa
In one of the more bizarre stories I've encountered, seven adopted American children, ages 8 to 17, were recently discovered in an African orphanage. The adoptive mother, Mercury Denise Liggins, had apparently left the children with a relative in Nigeria while she went to work for Haliburton in Iraq. After the children were discovered by a passing missionary, House Majority Speaker Tom DeLay, Senator John Cornyn and State Department officials intervened to return the children to Houston. The children, who were born and raised in Texas, were placed with Liggins by Houston ...
2003 Tax Benefits for Adoption
The tax benefits for adoption are numerous and a bit complicated.
This year adoptive parents may be able to take a tax credit of up to $10,160 for qualifying expenses paid to adopt an eligible child. Also, up to $10,160 paid or reimbursed by an employer for qualifying adoption expenses under an adoption assistance program may be excludable from gross income. Adoptive parents may claim both a credit and an exclusion for expenses of adopting an eligible child.
Finally, beginning in 2003, the maximum credit and exclusion of $10,160, subject to certain income and tax ...
MEPA Bombshell Hits Hamilton County Ohio
In an unprecedented move, the federal Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Letter of Finding to Hamilton County Ohio with a determination that the county violated the civil rights of children eligible for adoption and of foster families and other prospective adoptive families. After an extensive investigation OCR discovered that the county violated MEPA by making adoption determinations on the basis of race, rather than on the basis of the individual needs of the children.
The cited violations included instances where non-African-American foster families were imprope...
Snowflake Adoptions
Last year Nightlight Christian Adoptions received a federal grant to promote so called Snowflake (a/k/a embryo) adoptions. The pro-life community views this largely as a means to protect the "life" inherent in every embryo which are commonly used and discarded in assisted reproduction procedures. Nightlight is forging new ground in this area which is largely unregulated and in a legal gray area. Are snowflake "adoptions" really adoptions? Are embryos "property"? Does contract, adoption or estate law govern alone or in combination? Nightlight attempts to answer some of ...
Great Lakes Reality Check
What's going on in Michigan? I completely agree with this editorial - it's a no brainer - convicted sex offenders should not be allowed to adopt. My question is why was a sex offender allowed to adopt in the first place? What happened to the criminal background check? The homestudy? Judicial review? That's the more important story here. Why were Michigan adoption professionals duped? Even worse, did they know and do nothing? Anyone with some insight drop me a line.
UPDATE: On November 12, 2003 the Michigan legislature passed a law which states that a "child shall not be ...
Congress Passes Adoption Promotion Act of 2003
On Friday, November 14th, the Senate passed the House version of The Adoption Promotion Act of 2003. The legislation extends the ASFA-created Adoption Incentive Program for another five years and focus greater attention on finding adoptive families for older children in foster care.
The bill authorizes $43 million per year in performance-based incentives to states that are successful in increasing the number of children adopted from foster care. The bonus program, first created as part of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, has contributed to the substantial ...