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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1995-10-11, Page 13October 11, 1995 adoption n ernszona no easy road Mery and Teresa adopted their third child, a seven -month-old boy, Alex, from Guatemala, about a year later. Using the same lawyer, this Teresa and Mery Hern with their children, from left to right, Eric, 5, Alex, 2, and Courtney, 3: :t f - Lr. Books • Hard Covcr • • Fitness & 1 With • Nutrition • Wildlife • („ardening • 1 ocal I-listory • 1 tumorous • Children's • Dictionaries The Exeter Times Advocate offers all kinds of services... • Fax Paperbacks Artist Supplies • Graphic pencil sets • Calligraphy suppliet Sr sets • Winsor Newton - Water- acrylic • Oil paints, brushes, sketch pads • (aiivas panels • Pastel sets • Derwent tins • Photocopies • Colour Copies • Transparencies • Laminating • Resumes • Typing • Flyers • Programs • and more School & Office Supplies Business Cards Rubber & Self- Inking Stamps Personal Labels Wedding & Anniversary Invitations & Supplies 424 Main Street Exeter, Ontario (519) 235-1331 Fax: (519) 235-0766 8:30 to 5:00 p.m. Mon. -Fr$. Brenda Burke T -A staff WOODHAM - After adopting two children from Guatemala and one child from Romania, Mery and Teresa Hern are in the process of adopting a fourth international child. "We should be bringing our baby home in February," said Teresa. "It's finally coming together and going through," said her husband, Merv. The couple began their fourth adoption attempt in August, 1994 and are hoping to get their paper work to Romania by Oct. 20, the date of their match meeting for the two-year old girl they plan to name Samantha. Because they weren't informed of a new adoption ruling made dur- ing the past few months, they did not immediately qualify for the adoption and didn't know why. The ruling requires adopting parents to agree to regular visits by social workers to update the progress of adopted children. The Hern's med- ical information ww initially re- jected as well, although the same information had been approved a year earlier. "You start at square one every time," said Merv. While having difficulty adopting in Canada from 1982 to 1991, due largely to extensive waiting lists averaging seven to 10. years, the couple hired a private social work- er to help them adopt inter- nationally. An adoption was even- tually set up with them but to their disappointment, the baby was adopted by another couple. "It was totally up to us to find the babies," said Teresa. The first big break came when friends of the couple came in con- tact with a Romanian man who's mission was to help people adopt children internationally. Mery and Teresa met with their mysterious new contact on Boxing Day, 1990. He informed them they could pick out a baby in Romania on the fol- lowing Valentines' Day. They im- mediately told their social worker to update their paper work. "We got the letter (of approval) the day we were leaving," said Te- resa, who added, "We were going anyway." From that point on, "something happened," recalled Merv. A five-month wait was followed by a lengthy, harrowing trip through the war-torn area sur- rounding Romania. This involved being checked by armed soldiers, experiencing a minor earthquake, driving into a mountain gravel pit, enduring 90 degree heat, running out of food, plus countless mix ups with the adoption paper work. "We were down to one meal a day," said Merv, who added they travelled to the Resita orphanage with another couple from Fergus who planned to adopt. At the end of the ordeal, a five- minute court appearance proved 13 -month-old Eric was officially adopted by the Herns in July, 1991. In an August article entitled Bringing home baby, Maclean's magazine reported Mery and Te- resa had flipped a coin with another couple to decide who would pick a child first at the orphanage. Ro- mania closed its doors to Adoption on the day the family arrived home with Eric. Despite Merv's new resolution never to travel far away again, by the following Christmas he and Te- resa had grown restless. They re- ferred to a publication called The Adoption Helper and found a Strat- ford lawyer who dealt with inter- national adoptions. Again they went through the adoption system but this time their lawyer did most of the work for them. A parent-child match was made within a month and eight- month -old Courtney, from Gua- temala, was in their hands eight months later in March, 1993. time it took less than a month to make the match and seven months to finalize the adoption. By this time, the couple's former Ro- manian contact had left Fergus with a reputation for successfully adopt- ing out about 35 children from Ro- mania. "With international adoptions it's who you know and what you say," said Teresa, who is now depending on a connection in Calgary to help her adopt the two-year-old girl from Romania. The Hern's adoption paper work has been updated once again. Te- resa admitted the entire adoption process is not only time-consuming but expensive, right down to the $40 authentication fees for docu- ments. The couple has spent at least $60,000 to get their three adopted children home. "The only problem with inter- national adoptions is money," said Merv. "It's sad because these kids need parents...A lot of these kids would die without adoptions," add- ing illnesses such as ear infections were killing children in the orphan- age Eric was adopted from. "There are people out there," said Merv, "that went through it all and got nothing. The rule with inter- national adoptions is never, never take no for an answer." OPEN HOUSE & DEM 0 DAY 1 SAT. OCT. 14 -10 A.M. TO 4:00 P.M. 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