It was 2 am for Meagan and Marsh Brody. That's when they were awakened by a loud knock at the door. Two casually dressed employees of the Tennessee Department of Child Development, one carrying a briefcase and the other with a clipboard, stood outside.
Already, they said, they had been approved for the adoption of their new daughter. Still they were told that due to a new law having taken effect the preceding day, they would have to adopt a second child due to a technicality, or risk losing the ability to adopt their first one.
"I simply don't understand it," said Meagan, recounting the events of that Thursday morning. "I told him that we even signed up before the passage of the law, but he said that the government cannot afford for Tennessee children to grow up in deficient homes."
The law came into effect ten days prior, without the signage of governor Phil Bredesen, after being approved by the Tennessee Senate. Explained sponsor Sen. Paul Stanley, "We aren't targeting gay couples or even unwedded couples here. We're just trying to make sure that children grow up in a stable environment, and if the parents have already had one child, well, that's the surest sign they've got proper training."
The other leading sponsor, Rep. John DeBerry, Jr., declined to list his reasons for supporting the bill, but he obliged to reporters that if any Tennesseans would like to inquire to his reasons, they could simply go to his office, take the "War and Peace" book from the shelf, go down the hidden cobblestone passage into the dungeon, grab the dangling vine, and swing over the spiked pit.
"Once you've done that, just answer the riddle by the two-headed snake and knock on the door two, then three, but not four times. The aardvark will lead you into your designated office chair, and then we will sit together and have a private non-disclosure agreement enhanced discussion."
The Family First Foundation commented that although the bill could stretch the amount of time children stay in state care by as much as two years, the extra government expenditures could be made up for a decrease in abandoned children due to the new law in just ten years down the road, if money were taken from foster care programs and redistributed to abstinence only education.
The Tennessee Children and Youth Commission, on the other hand, has determined that such a measure is untenable during the current recession. "It's plainly better for a child to grow up without a sibling than without any parents," they wrote at the bottom of their report. They cite several scientific studies that state that an only child may even have more achievement motivation and better verbal skills.
Asked for a rebuttal, the Family First Foundation wrote via e-mail, "Cain and Abel. James and John. Nahor and Haran. The Bible clearly says the best families come with siblings in twos and threes. To get the nuclear family average of 2.52, we'd split the third baby, but luckily we have King Solomon's wisdom to guide us."
"We'd consider adopting a second child, but we're not sure if this is right," said Marsh Brody. "We're not sure if living in Tennessee is right anymore." The couple has pledged to fight for the repeal of the new law.
Based on:
http://www.tennessean.com/...