June 20, 2006

My Stepsisters and Their Children

I have two stepsisters. They have both adopted babies from foreign countries.

They were both single when they adopted. The eldest, Joan, is 45 and had been married twice: once to a woman and once to a man. The other, Cathy, is 43 and has never been married.

(Why is their marital status or history relevant? Well it's not. To me. Nor to the governments of the countries where they adopted. I mention it here because, as I understand the rules, if I or any other lesbian were to attempt such a thing, we would be turned down. Just chew on that a bit: who I currently sleep with determines how qualified I am to be a parent. Over here. Over there. And it's obviously not about the whole "children must be raised by a father and a mother" rhetoric. How does it make sense?)

Joan, the sister from my mother's remarriage, adopted a baby girl from Guatemala. She's being raised at the Jersey shore. Cathy, the sister from my father's remarriage, chose to adopt from Vietnam. They make their home on the gulf coast of Florida.

Maia is around seven years old. Cathy has been waiting several years for political "issues" to be resolved between Vietnam and America to adopt a sister for Maia. She and her mother and her mother's mother departed for Vietnam last week to pick up our newest family member, Kiana. Cathy is blogging the experience over at Fly Us to the Moon. It's an interesting read, yet I can't help but think how completely American she sounds. Not that that is a bad thing. It just struck me.

Her heart is in the right place.
She is a good mom.
I'm looking forward to meeting my newest niece.

.

8 comments:

Middle Girl said...

Congratulations Aunt (again) Suzanne. Sounds like your step-sister is going to have her hands full. Sounds like she (and her mom) are up for the challenge.
Kudos to the growing family.

Taradharma said...

yay to the growing family! But yeah, easier to adopt as a single parent than a lesbian? Can't say as I'm surprised, but, yeah, sheesh. It's a crazy crazy world, gf!

pinkme said...

Oh, I think it is wonderful that they are both giving homes to children without.
The best parents I know are a same sex couple (their child is the biological child of dad #1). It is a shame that there are soo many children in this county who need homes and the government is worried about who sleeps where. Priorities, sheesh!

Pisces75 said...

I just don't understand why people are so opposed of same sex couples adopting children. If someone wants to love and take care of a child don't remove that opportunity based on sexual preference. It is so ridiculous!

Congrats on being a new auntie!!

Teresa said...

One of my favorite events of this year was Ohio state senator Robert Hagan's February proposal of a bill to bar Republicans from adopting children. "I have no empirical or scientific evidence that Republicans are less able to raise a child, just as they have no scientific evidence that gays are less able to raise a child," Hagan said.

nina michelle said...

aw geez, I can feel myself ramping up here...

Nov. will be a vote on a marriage protection proposition here in Idaho...

Along these lines I find myself pondering the need of these same people to define the "traditional family". In their intense fervor to disassociate themselves from the GLBT community, during all the political posturing and pontificating, babies of all ages are living another day without the love of a parent and the stability which a loving couple can give them.

Who are they protecting again?

Gina said...

Hooray for more babies to spoil!

nina michelle said...

elizabeth~

you made me spit my homemade potato moonshine all over my keyboard...

Many people live here in Idaho. We have several founding members of Focus on the Family, Ernest Hemingway (well yes, he killed himself here but we try not to mention that part), Gem and Star, Idaho's premiere Cloned Asses and one newly "out" lesbian (4 days to be exact). That "vapor" you referred to must be the onion fields...

*winky face*