The adoption ban falls in Florida!

This article (below) greeted my eyes at 3:30pm, Wednesday, September 22, 2010.  I was due to have my first round of infertility treatments the following week.  Over the course of the year, we had tried several times with the help of our known donor to get pregnant.  In June I was told that I had Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome, and the grief was indescribable.  All I could think of was not being able to have a child.  To be honest, I had not wanted to get pregnant, but the only way we would be able to adopt was if we moved to another state or lied.  I was not going to build our family on a lie, and moving was going to be the last option if we were unable to have our own children.  When this flashed across my smart phone screen via a headline news app, I cried.  It was perfect!  We would have children regardless of what state my fertility was in!  

Mama S and I have jokingly talked about how wonderful it will be to adopt a child who has already been potty trained and is well past the "terrible 2s".  We know that adoption isn't going to be easy.  We know that with adopting older kids comes the chance of abandonment issues and trauma from their history, but that's ok.  For us, the child or children we adopt will be ours and the opportunity to love them will be all that matters.  I can't wait to complete our classes, home study and be able to meet our first child! 

MIAMI — Florida will immediately stop enforcing its ban on adoptions by gay people following a decision by a state appeals court that the three-decade-old law is unconstitutional, Gov. Charlie Crist said Wednesday.

Crist announced the decision after the 3rd District Court of Appeal upheld a 2008 ruling by a Miami-Dade judge, who found "no rational basis" for the ban when she approved the adoption of two young brothers by Martin Gill and his male partner.

"I'm very pleased with the ruling on behalf of the Gills," Crist told reporters in Tallahassee. "It's a great day for children. Children deserve a loving home."

The appeals court decision is not the final word on the law. Gill and the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented him and his partner, want the state to take the case to the Florida Supreme Court to obtain a final statewide determination on the law.

"If that continues to be their desire, we would support that, and I think given the makeup of the current Supreme Court they would have a very good chance to get a very good ruling," said Crist, a former Republican running for the U.S. Senate as an independent.

Earlier this month, Crist's campaign issued a position paper supporting several gay rights issues he'd once opposed, including adoption rights.

The prohibition was first enacted in 1977 and is the only law of its kind in the nation, according to court records. Arkansas and Utah ban any unmarried straight or gay couples from adopting or fostering children. Mississippi bans gay couples, but not single gays, from adopting.

"Clearly, Florida's law was the most draconian in the nation until today," said Robert Rosenwald, the lead counsel on the case for the Florida ACLU.

In a 28-page opinion, a three-judge panel of the court noted that gay people are permitted to become foster parents or legal guardians in Florida, yet are the only group not allowed to adopt.