And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
The National post printed an article on Glenna's story. It can be found at the
following URL:
www.nationalpost.com/news.asp?s2=national&s3=news&f=990315/2375215.html
Monday, March 15, 1999
A childless mother's pain
Glenna Henderson, a Native
Canadian from Manitoba, is fighting
to get her baby back after giving him
up for adoption in Oklahoma, where
she says the law, and an
unscrupulous adoption agency, have
worked against her. It's a battle that
pits two cultures and two nations
against each other
Olivia Hart
National Post
Glenna Henderson
got up from her
hospital bed on
April 1, 1997,
took a walk in the
hallway, and came
upon a nurse
rocking a baby.
She knew instantly
that it was her
son, the son she
had given birth to
six hours earlier
and had
immediately given
up for adoption.
She asked to hold
him, took him
back to her room,
looked at him, felt
his soft cheek and
warm breath.
"I couldn't speak,
I was in such
shock. I looked at
my bag on the
hospital chair and
thought of putting
him in there and running away." She knew then she had
made a horrible mistake, a mistake that has cost her her
son and $80,000 in legal fees.
Ms. Henderson, her family and her entire community
are only at the beginning of a highly complex legal battle
to get back her baby boy from the private adoption
agency that she feels manipulated and frightened her
into giving up her baby for adoption. It is a battle that
pits two cultures and two nations against each other.
--
Six weeks pregnant, Ms. Henderson was preparing to
leave her home in Winnipeg and her job as a bank teller
for theological college in Oklahoma City. She is Ojbwe,
a member of the Sagkeeng First Nation, and her family
has strong Christian beliefs. Ms. Henderson's dream
was to become a teacher at a Native Christian school.
The eldest of three children, she was worried that her
pregnancy, which was not planned, would bring shame
to her family.
She told her long-term boyfriend that she was pregnant,
ended the relationship, and left with her secret intact.
In Oklahoma, she was able to get on with her studies
and her life. For months, there were no visible changes
to her body, no morning sickness. Six months into her
pregnancy, she travelled with her family on a six-week
vacation through the southern U.S. states. Ms.
Henderson is a large woman, and not even her mother
or her sister could tell she was pregnant. In fact she
wore the same clothes up to the birth of her baby boy.
She admits "it was easy to deny my pregnancy, no one
could tell and I kept pushing it out of my head."
Her problems began when she read an ad in the weekly
Oklahoman Metro. It read: "If you are pregnant and
need help call Boren & Boren Attorney at law. Housing,
medical, and legal expenses paid."
Ms. Henderson visited the firm's Web site and felt
reassured that she would have "full information about
[her] rights and options" and "the right to make the final
decision about adoption after the baby is born." She
went to a link which was headed: "Adoption law in
Oklahoma" but the page only stated "text needed here."
Ms. Henderson began to panic; in two months her baby
would arrive. She called Boren & Boren, a
husband-and-wife law firm working as a private
adoption agency, and explained her situation. Two hours
later she was filling out health forms and signing an
adoption contract. It was only at this time that
Oklahoman adoption laws were explained to her.
It was also at this time that she claims Rebecca Boren,
one of the firm's lawyers, told her that if she revealed to
the judge that she is Native Indian while signing her
consent for adoption, she would be committing perjury.
Ms. Henderson didn't understand but fell silent.
Her baby boy was born April 1, 1998 at 11:42 a.m.
Rebecca Boren, Susan Kelly, the adoptive mother, and
Liz, an assistant of the Borens were all holding the baby
while Ms. Henderson watched in confusion and shock.
"They asked me if I was sure � and I couldn't speak."
Later that evening she would see her son in the hall of
the hospital and finally hold him. She soon realized that
her pregnancy "wasn't real until he was there."
--
"There is a big difference between pregnancy and birth,"
says Peter Gibb, executive director of the center for
adoption research and policy at the University of
Massachusetts medical center. "The emotional status
postpartum is an extraordinary period of time to make a
decision. Which is why an 8-10 day period is usually
given before the consent is signed."
Twenty-six hours after giving birth, Ms. Henderson was
brought to an Oklahoma judge's chamber to sign the
consent form for adoption. The law in Oklahoma had
once carried a standard 8-10 day waiting period until
November, 1997, when drastic changes were made,
including one that changed the minimum waiting period
for giving consent to 24 hours. Another change to the
act made the consent irrevocable. (Previously, the birth
mother had 30 days to change her mind.)
In Manitoba, as in many states in the U.S., Ms.
Henderson would have had 10 days to think about
giving up her baby for adoption and a standard 21-30
days to change her mind.
Ms. Henderson hired a lawyer and called Boren &
Boren twelve days after giving consent and explained
that she couldn't go through with the adoption.
Harvey Pollock, Ms. Henderson's lawyer in Winnipeg
sought to have the jurisdiction of the case transferred to
Manitoba because Ms. Henderson was not a U.S.
resident. That would have the effect of nullifying the
consent.
Ms. Henderson had been in Oklahoma for a total of five
months; because she is a North American Indian she
was able to attend a new Christian college in Oklahoma
without a student visa. She did not have a social security
card, voter's registration card, Oklahoma driver's
licence, nor has she ever filed a federal or state tax
return. She worked intermittently as a waitress without a
green card and paid non-residency taxes, she did have a
temporary INS card, which would have eventually given
her American Indian status.
Mr. Pollock argued that case before Justice
Guertin-Riley of Manitoba's Court Queen's Bench. The
judge agreed, and granted a court order that "the alleged
consent of Glenna Henderson . . . to the adoption of
Baby Boy Henderson is invalid and of no force and
effect;" It also ordered that "all efforts be made to find
Baby Boy Henderson and have him delivered to Glenna
Henderson . . ."
But Judge Hubbard, of the Oklahoma District Court,
refused to honour the order and granted the Borens one
of many victories. The firm has refused several requests
for comment.
Since Ms. Henderson was considered a resident by the
Oklahoma court, a third party guardian appointed by the
court in Oklahoma put forth a motion to have the case
moved to federal court, since both mother and baby
were North American Indians, and the child's welfare
falls under the Indian Child Welfare Act.
The courtroom exploded. Both the Borens and the
Oklahoma judge denied that Ms. Henderson and baby
Henderson are Native. They say they are Caucasian.
Under the Indian Child Welfare Act no North American
Indian child can be given up for adoption unless the
birth parent's band is notified. Furthermore, the birth
mother has an automatic 10 days to sign consent
regardless of state laws. That, again, would have
nullified Ms. Henderson's consent. However, Ms.
Henderson claimed she was told to lie to the judge that
she was not North American Indian.
Carol Davies, state representative in Oklahoma for the
American Adoption Congress, says she has heard of this
sort of thing: "It is not unusual for our private and public
adoption agencies to wiggle the laws to fit their needs . .
. they use scare tactics such as telling birth mothers that
you will go to jail if you break your contract. And they
also like to force birth mothers to state that the father is
unknown to avoid any surprises later." Ms. Davies is an
advocate in protecting the rights of birth parents and
adoptees. She says that Oklahoma's adoption law,
"Stinks. And they lean towards adoption agencies and
against the adoptee and birth parents." She also feels
that adoptions are so corrupt in Oklahoma that even
"some people who work for the Department of Human
Services must be getting kickbacks."
According to Ms. Davies, some agencies put a fake
name for the birth mother on a child's birth certificate.
Eighteen years later, when an adoptee is searching for
his or her birth parents, they wind up searching for a
ghost.
Rebecca Boren pre-registered Ms. Henderson's hospital
stay; all documents state that Ms. Henderson is a white
female.
The temporary custody order that Rebecca Boren and
Susan Kelly, the adoptive mother, filed also identifies
the baby as Caucasian. As a result, once the birth
certificate is changed to state the adoptive mother as the
parent, it will also state that Baby Boy Henderson is
Caucasian.
--
The temporary custody order became crucial to Ms.
Henderson's case when she discovered that the order
was issued by Judge Hubbard the day baby Henderson
was born.
Her nightmare continued when she discovered that three
years ago, Susan Kelly's husband, also a judge, shared
an office with Judge Hubbard. Mrs. Kelly and Judge
Hubbard are friends who attend the same church and
social functions. Ms. Henderson's lawyers have tried
unsuccessfully to have Judge Hubbard removed. The
state's Supreme Court denied the request -- twice.
Another coincidence is the relationship between a
woman named Julie Demastus and Rebecca Boren.
While signing consent Ms. Henderson wasn't told she
needed her own legal representation. But the Borens
provided one for her nevertheless. Her attorney was
Julie Demastus, who also runs an adoption agency in
Oklahoma. Ms. Boren and Ms. Demastus employ each
other as legal representatives for the birth mothers that
are under their respective agency's contract.
--
Susan Kelly has reportedly sold her home in Oklahoma
and cannot be located. Ms. Henderson is aware that her
child is bonding to Ms. Kelly each day he is away from
her, and that she may never see him again.
Along with First Nations grand chief Phil Fontaine, Ms.
Henderson has spoken to Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd
Axworthy about her case. For Ms. Henderson's family
and her band this case opens memories of the "50's
Sweep," a time when as many as 15,000 aboriginal
children were adopted, even taken, and placed with
non-native families. In fact another member of Ms.
Henderson's band, Hubert Morrisseau, had just lost his
grandson to a non-native family from Connecticut. His
daughter was an aboriginal baby adopted during the
"50's Sweep."
Delphine Henderson, grandmother to Baby Boy
Henderson, feels strongly that, "This is a Native
Canadian child and should be returned to Canada." A
Foreign Affairs case manager assigned to investigate will
only comment that, "we have to respect the U.S. legal
system."
Ms. Henderson will make the 20-hour drive to
Oklahoma City, in time for another hearing on the rights
of her son, on March 29. If Canadian Foreign Affairs
officials choose to intervene in the case, this hearing will
be their only opportunity. A spokesperson for the
department refused to comment on whether anyone
would be there.
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
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