The faces of her family and friends beamed as I walked down the aisle of the sanctuary holding the Torah at Elana’s Bat Mitzvah, honored as the family’s adoption attorney. Twelve years earlier, I had phoned her parents to share great news: “Becky wants you to adopt her baby.” As I filled with gratitude for this beautiful teen’s accomplishments and the overflowing love and admiration of her impressive contingent of camp and school chums cheering her on, I thought back to that earlier moment, when she entered her family.
Elana’s extraordinary parents were open with their community about their daughter’s adoption from the moment they brought her home. They continued their commitment to transparency by honoring me at the Bat Mitzvah, introducing me as their adoption attorney. When they addressed her from the pulpit with love, devotion, and pride, I felt so privileged to have been a part of creating this wonderful family.
Not many attorneys have the intimate relationship with their clients that an adoption attorney shares with adoptive parents. When a prospective family meets with me for the first time, they often have already had their hearts broken by years of failed fertility treatments and are afraid that they will never have a child. To help them become parents is a profound gift, not only for them, but for me.
