By
Roberta M. Gubbins
Legal News
“The court having found,” said Hon. R. George Economy, Probate Judge, after reviewing the Petition for Adoption of the first of 15 adopting families to appear before him to finalize their adoption on the 27th Christmas Adoption Days held on December 17th and 18th, “that a Petition for Adoption has been filed, the adoption of the adoptee by the petitioner is desirable and in the best interests of the adoptee, and it is hereby ordered that from and after his date the parent of Isiah Thomas will be Sharon Thomas.
With those words, Isiah Thomas, age 3, became permanently part of the family of Sharon Thomas. Isiah had been with Sharon since October 2012 and according to Tonya Sorrell, adoption worker with Lutheran Adoption Services, Isiah has been “transformed” under Thomas’s care.
When Isiah came to Sharon, Sorrell said, he had “developmental delays, temper tantrums and acted out a lot. Now he is a happy little boy.” And that is due to the “love he received in Thomas’s care.”
Thomas, a single woman and licensed foster care parent, has two other children in her home, her grandson, DeShawn, 6, whom she adopted, and Lynn, 15 months. All the children in her home, Sorrell said, “flourish in spite of the scarcity of material goods. Her home is an example of how you don’t need much to provide a good home and make a change in a child’s life.
Judge Economy, wearing his favorite Christmas tie only worn on this day each year, began the Christmas Adoption Day tradition 26 years ago offering adopting families the option of finalizing their adoption close to Christmas thus “giving them the best gift of all.”
Each year families come to Judge Economy’s probate courtroom on this special day, not to argue but to unite children with their permanent family. This year 18 children were adopted into 15 families. So many families requested that their child’s adoption be part of the Christmas adoptions that two days were set aside by Judge Economy who has vowed to devote as many days as needed so that no family is turned away.
As is tradition, Judge Economy invited the children to come to the bench while he finalizes their adoption. The children bang the large gavel while he reads and signs the final order. Isiah banged the gavel with a little help and a big grin. Siblings came to the bench and banged the gavel for the five infants being adopted.
This year each adoptee and their siblings received a Teddy Bear to memorialize their adoption.
“The Bears were a gift from the Department of Human Services,” said Toni Coltman, Probate Court Adoption Specialist.
“The families adopting the infants,” said Coltman, “were so relieved when the adoption became final.” The path to those adoptions is a long struggle as the rights to biological parents must be terminated before the children can be adopted.
The excitement of the adopting families filled the courtroom with laughter and tears of joy. It was impossible to tell who had the biggest smile—the children acquiring a permanent home, the couple becoming a family, the family members watching the proceedings, the Court staff taking pictures, the social workers who followed the families through the long process of adoption or Judge Economy who had the biggest smile of all.
Judge Economy, aware that many children such as Isiah need permanent homes, urged interested families to get more information from Michigan Department of Human Services.
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