IN THE SPRING OF 1995, Americans watched in horror as a sobbing 4-year-old was handed over to parents he had never seen. Raised by adoptive parents from the age of four days, the boy pleaded with the only mother and father he knew and promised to “be good” if they would let him stay. But the child was delivered to strangers and driven away forever, as his 7-year-old adoptive brother looked on. To many, the sickening sight of a child’s anguish was compounded by the knowledge that the tragedy had been played out under the auspices of both the Illinois and United States courts.
Commentators searched for villains to explain Baby Richard’s fate. They variously singled out the biological father, unmarried at the time of the boy’s birth, for his relentless pursuit of custody in disregard of the child’s well being; the biological mother, for lying to the absent father, telling him the baby was dead; the adoptive parents, who fought for custody long after learning of the natural father’s wish to be united with his child; and the legal system, for taking an unconscionable four years to reach an unsatisfactory result. If the goal is to prevent similar tragedies, however, one must look elsewhere: to common-sense reform of adoption statutes.
