{"id":9274,"date":"2021-06-17T04:40:11","date_gmt":"2021-06-17T04:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azpregnancyhelp.com\/?p=9274"},"modified":"2022-09-20T01:07:50","modified_gmt":"2022-09-20T01:07:50","slug":"adoption-media-news-arizona-crisis-pregnancy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azpregnancyhelp.com\/adoption-media-news-arizona-crisis-pregnancy\/","title":{"rendered":"Birth Mother Matters in Adoption Episode #48 \u2013 Adoption in the Media & News"},"content":{"rendered":"
This time is tough for many of us, but we can unite and focus on the positives rather than allowing the negatives to change our outlook. Our Arizona adoption agency is here for you when you need us and ready to walk with you on your adoption journey when experiencing a crisis pregnancy in Arizona. Saving a baby’s life through adoption is always a courageous decision and should be celebrated, even in the challenging times we are currently experiencing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If you are dealing with an unplanned crisis pregnancy in AZ and want more information about adoption, we are a local, licensed Arizona adoption agency ready to serve you.\u00a0 <\/span>We are available 24\/7 by phone or text at (623) 695-4112.\u00a0 If you are experiencing a crisis pregnancy in Arizona, w<\/span>e can make an immediate appointment with you to get to know you, give you more information, and if you are ready, start creating an Arizona Adoption Plan. Call or text any time. If you would like, you can introduce yourself to us HERE<\/a>. We look forward to meeting you and finding out how we can help you during this challenging time! \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Visit us\u00a0HERE<\/a> to listen to Episode #48 of our podcast Birth Mother Matters. Read the transcript to our Podcast Episode #48 below-<\/p>\n Ron Reigns: Speaker 2: Speaker 3: Speaker 4: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Ron Reigns: Nicole: Kelly Rourke-Scarry: Nicole: Nicole: Nicole: Ron Reigns: This time is tough for many of us, but we can unite and focus on the positives rather than allowing the negatives to change our outlook. Our Arizona adoption agency is here for you when you need us and ready to walk with you on your adoption journey when experiencing a crisis pregnancy in Arizona. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":9275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1185,320,1134,551,495,1186,559,951,1],"tags":[496,352,452,651,800,35,952,1089,1206,335],"class_list":["post-9274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adoption","category-adoption-agency","category-arizona-adoption","category-arizona-adoption-agency","category-arizona-crisis-pregnancy","category-az-pregnancy-help","category-building-arizona-families","category-crisis-pregnancy","category-uncategorized","tag-arizona-crisis-pregnancy","tag-az-pregnancy-help","tag-birth-mother-assistance","tag-birth-mother-matters-in-adoption","tag-birth-mothers-matter-adoption-podcast","tag-building-arizona-families","tag-crisis-pregnancy","tag-crisis-pregnancy-in-arizona","tag-support-birth-mothers","tag-the-donna-k-evans-foundation"],"yoast_head":"\nAZ Pregnancy Help Walks Alongside Women Experiencing a Crisis Pregnancy in AZ<\/h3>\n
Birth Mother Matters in Adoption Episode #48 \u2013 Adoption in the Media & News<\/h3>\n
\nWelcome and thank you for joining us on Birth Mother Matters in Adoption with Kelly Rourke-Scarry and me, Ron Reigns where we delve into the issues of adoption from every angle of the adoption triad.<\/p>\n
\nDo what\u2019s best for your kid and for yourself because if you can\u2019t take care of yourself, you\u2019re definitely not going to be able to take care of that kid and that\u2019s not fair.<\/p>\n
\nI know that my daughter would be well taken care of with them.<\/p>\n
\nDon\u2019t have an abortion. Give this child a chance. All I could think about was needing to save my son.<\/p>\n
\nMy name is Kelly Rourke-Scarry. I\u2019m the executive director, president and co-founder of Building Arizona Families Adoption Agency, the Donna K. Evans Foundation and creator of the You Before Me campaign. I have a bachelor\u2019s degree in family studies and human development and a master\u2019s degree in education with an emphasis in school counseling. I was adopted at the age of three days born to a teen birth mother, raised in a closed adoption and reunited with my birth mother in 2007. I have worked in the adoption field for over 15 years.<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019m Ron Reigns. I\u2019ve worked in radio since 1999. I was the co-host of two successful morning shows in Prescott, Arizona. Now, I worked for my wife who\u2019s an adoption attorney and I\u2019m able to combine these two great passions and share them on this podcast.<\/p>\n
\nThis podcast, I think, it\u2019s important that we really look at adoption and abortion in the news and the media. We\u2019re starting off 2020 and it\u2019ll be interesting to see from where we start to where we are at the end of the year.<\/p>\n
\nOkay. That\u2019s a good idea.<\/p>\n
\nAs we go through the year, I think we will get to see a lot happening. This is going to be an incredible year. We\u2019ve got the election and we\u2019ve got all of the upcoming abortion hearings and the laws that are being filed, that people are filing with the court regarding the changes they\u2019re requesting. So, it\u2019s going to be really interesting.<\/p>\n
\nThere is a lot in the news.<\/p>\n
\nThere\u2019s a lot. Agreed. So locally, Paul Peterson has some news.<\/p>\n
\nOn January 8th, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors officially accepted Paul Peterson\u2019s resignation and began the process of filling the vacant County assessor position. Listeners may remember Peterson as the elected official in Arizona who was charged in three States with allegedly smuggling pregnant women from the Marshall Islands in order to give up their babies for adoption. He\u2019s accused of arranging for 28 of the Marshalese women to fly into Arizona, live in a house he owned and have a doctor deliver the children. This was paid through the state\u2019s healthcare system.<\/p>\n
\nHe\u2019s charged in Arizona with filing fraudulent claims to the tune of $800000. In Utah and Arkansas, he\u2019s being charged with human smuggling. He\u2019s been accused of participating in 70 illegal adoption cases. He\u2019s alleged to have taken women\u2019s passports. The exploited women received little or no prenatal upon their arrival in the United States. He\u2019s pleaded not guilty in Arizona and Arkansas and has yet to enter a plea in Utah.<\/p>\n
\nWhat do you think of that?<\/p>\n
\nPersonally, I\u2019m glad he finally resigned because he was being very defiant of the whole thing.<\/p>\n
\nI am too.<\/p>\n
\nI think it\u2019s time for him to own up to what he has done.<\/p>\n
\nAgreed. Agreed. Again, we, as a podcast, are not accusing him. Obviously, he has not been found guilty at this point. The accusations that have been made sound as if they\u2019re being substantiated and-<\/p>\n
\nAnd by his associate. Right.<\/p>\n
\nThat\u2019s really concerning. The fact that he resigned, I agree with you. He needs to move out of that position. I don\u2019t know whether or not he\u2019s been paid this whole time for being in that position or if he\u2019s taken a leave of absence or what have you, but I don\u2019t think that we need somebody who is currently incarcerated for this crime pending trial, holding-<\/p>\n
\nRepresenting us in our government no matter what the position is. Right.<\/p>\n
\nAgreed. I think too, that the fact that he has not entered a plea yet in Utah and is entered to not guilty, why would he be withholding on the third is what I\u2019d like to know?<\/p>\n
\nYeah. I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
\nMaybe they don\u2019t have as much evidence or maybe they don\u2019t have as\u2026 Maybe it\u2019s a little bit of a different circumstance because it\u2019s a different state law. I don\u2019t know, but yet, some of what he\u2019s done as federal. He\u2019s broken some federal laws, not just state laws. The more I read about things that have been said supposedly by him, my heart just breaks for these women and my heart breaks for the adoption community because-<\/p>\n
\nIt is a black eye.<\/p>\n
\nIt is. Hands down, it is.<\/p>\n
\nNobody I\u2019ve ever dealt with in the adoption field, as far as I know, has done things this way the way he has and it hurts because you think of these people who were actually trying to do it for the right reasons and to help these birth mothers and to help the adoptive families and everybody in the triad and the children. To me, it seems that he was out for personal gain and secondary, was the mothers and the children and the adoptive families.<\/p>\n
\nRight. Because this was such an earthquake in the adoption community, now we\u2019re dealing with the aftershocks. We\u2019re dealing with the ripple effect.<\/p>\n
\nYeah, the people who had nothing to do with any of it.<\/p>\n
\nYeah, the innocent. Again, I hope that they actually come to a resolution quickly and this isn\u2019t drawn out over the next 10 years and we can see and learn from what he did to make sure that it doesn\u2019t ever happen in the adoption community again. So hopefully, there\u2019ll be something positive that can come out of this.<\/p>\n
\nAbsolutely. New York\u2019s governor, Andrew Cuomo announced that more than 3600 adopted new Yorkers have filed to receive their certified birth certificates online within the first 48 hours of a new law going into effect. Cuomo said, \u201cAdoptees have every right to the same birth records as everyone else and the new law enacted is making that a reality for the first time.\u201d The law says that adoptees 18 and older in New York state outside of New York City may request a copy of their birth certificate. This will also allow direct descendants of an adoptee to request the adoptee\u2019s birth certificate if the adopted person is deceased.<\/p>\n
\nSo I think this is revolutionary and I commend New York for taking this and passing this law.<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019ll be honest, I\u2019m a little surprised.<\/p>\n
\nI am too because New York has some laws that I\u2019m not fully in agreement with.<\/p>\n
\nThey seem very friendly towards abortion and not so much towards adoption. Isn\u2019t that correct?<\/p>\n
\nIt could be interpreted as such. Yes.<\/p>\n
\nOkay.<\/p>\n
\nThat being the case, this is a huge step because as an adoptee, I have found my birth mother, I have obtained my original birth certificate, but for all of those adoptees that haven\u2019t, what an incredible gift? Truly an incredible gift. What an incredible gift for the generations behind them that are not going to have access? With all the genetic testing, the 23andMe and\u00a0ancestry.com<\/a>, that is just opening up this new world for adoptees like myself to find out for once, I can honestly say I know what my nationality is.<\/p>\n
\nRight.<\/p>\n
\nFor so many years, for dozens of years, I couldn\u2019t do that. To have that and then for these individuals to have that opportunity of knowing their biological parents\u2019 names is just\u2026 I hope that every state follows this protocol. I really do. I hope that every state follows it.<\/p>\n
\nI agree.<\/p>\n
\nSo I know this isn\u2019t adoption related really or abortion related, but I just have to say kudos to California.<\/p>\n
\nI know why.<\/p>\n
\nDiapers are now tax-free.<\/p>\n
\nSuper good news.<\/p>\n
\nSo next time you go to California and you have a child in diapers, stock up.<\/p>\n
\nOr even if you don\u2019t, bring them back to Arizona.<\/p>\n
\nRight.<\/p>\n
\nMight need them.<\/p>\n
\nYeah. Stock up and that is just incredible. Now, you did bring up something before we started this podcast. I have to say, I don\u2019t know if adult diapers are included or not.<\/p>\n
\nWell, I would think they are, I think that\u2019s a great story for me because I\u2019m getting up to that age.<\/p>\n
\nYeah, but why would they discriminate? Why do you have to be a baby to have tax-free diapers?<\/p>\n
\nIn March, the Supreme Court\u2019s going to rule on the constitutionality of Louisiana\u2019s abortion law requiring abortion physicians to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic where they\u2019re providing the abortions. The filing goes further than just arguing for the support of the constitutionality of the Louisiana law. It also implies that the confusion about abortion is directly linked to confusing laws for which abortion was deemed constitutional, 1973\u2019s Roe V. Wade and Planned Parenthood V. Casey in 1992. On March 4th, Louisiana will argue that abortion businesses shouldn\u2019t be presumed to have, \u201cthird-party standing,\u201d before the United States Supreme Court. Opponents are saying that it would limit the state of 4.5 million people to just one abortion provider.<\/p>\n
\nSo in doing some research and reading about this, this is the landmark case that they\u2019re saying may be the domino in overturning Roe V. Wade. This may start-<\/p>\n
\nStart that ball rolling.<\/p>\n
\nRight.<\/p>\n
\nOkay.<\/p>\n
\nI, as an adoption professional, actually found this very confusing. When I was reading this, I read it over and over again and I thought, \u201cWhy am I not understanding what they\u2019re trying to achieve?\u201d<\/p>\n
\nRight.<\/p>\n
\nSo from what I understand, they are stating that doctors who perform abortions have to have privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the facility.<\/p>\n
\nAdmitting privileges?<\/p>\n
\nRight.<\/p>\n
\nSo that means they can take a mother, the mother who\u2019s having the abortion into the hospital?<\/p>\n
\nNo, what they\u2019re stating is that if the mother is having health complications from the abortion, that they can then admit her to the hospital and treat her there.<\/p>\n
\nI see.<\/p>\n
\nSo if she had a perforated uterus or something that was related to the abortion, that she would then be able to receive adequate medical care from a hospital underneath that physician. For the common lay person, I think this would be very confusing as to why this is related to Roe V. Wade.<\/p>\n
\nRight, because that\u2019s where I\u2019m at right now.<\/p>\n
\nOkay. So, when we go back as to what makes this filing particularly interesting is not just the sheer volume of congressional signatories, almost 40% of the state and house combined, it\u2019s also the fact that it goes further than just arguing support for the constitutionality of the Louisiana law to suggest that the widespread confusion regarding abortion law ties directly to the confusing basic premises under which abortion was found constitutional. So basically, this law that they\u2019re trying to push through is putting up barriers for abortion.<\/p>\n
\nOkay.<\/p>\n
\nBy enforcing this law, it will drastically reduce-<\/p>\n
\nThe number of doctors?<\/p>\n
\nYes, the number of abortion providers.<\/p>\n
\nRight.<\/p>\n
\nSo it\u2019s a roundabout way to eliminate the number of abortions performed. It will make it harder for people who want to get an abortion in Louisiana to get one and it will put up an extra fence basically.<\/p>\n
\nOkay.<\/p>\n
\nAgain, I think that hopefully, as this goes into court and as we see it on the news, I\u2019m hoping that it will be broken down so people can understand the direct effect that it will have because it is very confusing to understand.<\/p>\n
\nVery confusing.<\/p>\n
\nWe have to start with the disclaimer that we are not accountants, that we are sheerly explaining more about tax benefits and how they relate to adoption. The information that we were talking about was taken right off of the IRS website.<\/p>\n
\nOkay.<\/p>\n
\nSo there is a tax credit for adoption, for qualified adoption expenses paid to adopt an eligible child and an exclusion from income for employer provided adoption assistance. The credit is non-refundable, which means it\u2019s limited to one\u2019s tax liability for the year, but any credit and excess of your tax liability may be carried for up to five years. The maximum dollar amount for 2019 is $14080 per child.<\/p>\n
\nOkay.<\/p>\n
\nSo I think it\u2019s important for our adoptive families to understand that they may qualify for assistance, and hopefully, this will help the previous podcast where-<\/p>\n
\nWe discussed some of the costs and the things to offset the costs of adopting a child.<\/p>\n
\nYeah, and what makes adoption difficult? So, this is one of those things.<\/p>\n
\nFor both credit and exclusion, qualified adoption expenses defined in section 23 D1 of the code include: reasonable and necessary adoption fees, court costs and attorney fees, traveling expenses, including the amount spent for meals and lodging while away from home, and other expenses that are directly related to and for the principal purpose of the legal adoption of an eligible child. An expense may be a qualified adoption expense, even if the expense is paid before the eligible child has been identified. For example, prospective adoptive parents who pay for a home study at the outset of an adoption effort may treat the fees as a qualified adoption expense. An eligible child is an individual who is under the age of 18 or is physically or mentally incapable of self-care. Qualified adoption expenses don\u2019t include expenses that a taxpayer pays to adopt the child of the taxpayer\u2019s spouse. Qualified adoption expenses include expenses paid by a registered domestic partner who lives in a state that allows us same-sex second parent or a co-parent to adopt his or her partner\u2019s child as long as those expenses otherwise, qualify for the credit.<\/p>\n
\nMy name is Nicole. I chose adoption after I struggled with\u2026 Because I called you guys like way back in May and I finally called him back in like August because back in May, I was like, \u201cWell, that\u2019s a good idea, but maybe I can keep the child.\u201d As time went by, I couldn\u2019t get jobs, so I decided to put the child up for adoption because I can\u2019t afford a kid. I wanted the adoptive parents to be alive like me, but different than me in terms of stability because I am far from it. I wanted them to have their life put together and I wanted them to kind of be like me, all quirky and energetic. I had five families to choose from. A couple of them didn\u2019t work out because of my heritage. So the family I chose only had one kid and they looked active and he looked clean. They looked like they were in with their family, so I chose them.<\/p>\n
\nTell me about your relationship with the adoptive family. Where did it start? Where is it now?<\/p>\n
\nI had first met the adoptive parents when I was super, super out of it at the hospital after my C-section. I don\u2019t remember what I said to them. Literally I don\u2019t, but apparently, I was playing musical cups because I kept taking the cups and moving around the table at the hospital. But I\u2019m in contact with the adoptive mom every day through email through Child Connect. So, every week, I get pictures, but all I really wanted was to know how the child was doing and get pictures every now and then. I get 10 or 15 pictures every week. I am very happy with my adoptive choice. Adoption\u00a0was pretty much the best idea for the child if you don\u2019t have your life put together like me.<\/p>\n
\nI moved out here from the East Coast because I lost everything in the flood from Hurricane Florence. I literally moved down here with the clothes on my back. Ever since, I\u2019ve been rebuilding it little by little. The pregnancy came as a surprise and I never even went to the doctor until I was eight months pregnant. If you know or foresee that you can\u2019t take care of a child, you need to do adoption. For me, I knew before I moved out here that it was going to take at least a year and a half for me to get everything back in place. But when I found out I was pregnant, I was like, \u201cThere\u2019s a monkey wrench in everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nSo I\u2019m just now starting the process of rebuilding. So now, I\u2019ve got a year and a half long fight to rebuild everything. I am very happy with my adoption choice. I couldn\u2019t have picked a better family because of how alike the adoptive mom and I are and how stable they are with their life. Their oldest child loves the baby. I get pictures of both of them all the time. So, my favorite thing about Building Arizona Families is Kelly and Kristie. They\u2019ve made this whole process pretty much easy for me to go through. So, whenever I had a problem, I just texted them and they would reply. That has to be my favorite thing.<\/p>\n
\nWe have a pregnancy crisis hotline available 24 by phone or text at 623-695-4112 or you can call our toll-free number 1-800-340-9665. If you are experiencing a crisis pregnancy in Arizona, we can make an immediate appointment with you to get you to a safe place, provide food and clothing, and started on creating an Arizona adoption plan or give you more information. You can check out our blogs on our website at azpregnancyhelp.com<\/a>. Thank you for joining us on Birth Mother Matters in Adoption written and produced by Kelly Rourke-Scarry and edited by me, Ron Reigns. If you enjoy this podcast, rate and review us wherever you listen to podcasts and as always, thanks to Grapes for letting us use their song, \u201cI Dunno\u201d as our theme song. Join us next time for Birth Mother Matters in Adoption. For Kelly Rourke-Scarry, I\u2019m Ron Reigns and we\u2019ll see you then.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"