Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Neighborhood news

Finding a family is well worth the wait

After some families spent years cutting through red tape to adopt , their dreams became a reality at the fourth annual Hillsborough Adoption Day.

By ELISABETH DYER
Published November 24, 2006

Zaria Harvey yelled "yes" and pumped her fist in the courtroom.

That's how she cheers for the West Tampa Spartans when they score a touchdown.

The 5-year-old had scored her own touchdown: Judge Katherine Essrig had finalized the adoptions of Zaria and her new brother Elijah, 6.

Foster parent Lillie Aikens, 52, is now legally Mom.

Zaria and Elijah were among 55 children adopted last week as part of the fourth annual Hillsborough Adoption Day, held in conjunction with National Adoption Day.

Dressed in silks and bows and suits, children donned crowns and tiaras, handed out at the door.

For many of the new families, it was a day they had waited months or years to see.

Deonna Greek became a mom to squirming Brandon Estes.

Greek, of Valrico, wanted Brandon, 3, to keep his last name so his birth family could contact him someday. Greek, a single mom who works at the Home Depot, lives with a couple, Michelle and Charles Commons. The Commonses were there to share her joy, and they're helping raise Brandon.

"Do you have sufficient income and assets to care for Brandon?" the judge asked Greek.

As Brandon playfully ducked under the table, Greek said, "Yes."

"Do you have enough love?" the judge continued.

"Please," she said.

Hillsborough judges started an adoptions unit in October to focus on cutting the red tape that can slow things down.

They chose 150 children whose parental rights have been terminated. Each child was assigned a guardian ad litem. The process requires terminating rights of birth parents and assuring homes of potential parents are adequate.

Completing each step can mean multiple court hearings and long delays. Some of the children adopted were the first to go through the program.

"By having this special unit, we can set more frequent hearings," Essrig said. "Our hopes are that children waiting to find parents are able to find forever families faster."

While they waited their turn, Zaria danced and Elijah wrote his numbers, from 1 to 10. Their brother Edward, 6, and cousin Embry Washington, 11, practiced crossing legs and arms.

When the judge called a recess, the children ate doughnuts, cupcakes and cookies in the lobby. Edward, whom Aikens adopted last year, slipped into a stairwell and howled softly, hearing an echo. He called the others. They agreed that it was a ghost.

Aikens, 52, promised them if they were good, she'd take them shopping.

Aikens works in the mailroom at the Tampa Tribune and spends her free time juggling football games, movies and trips to the park. She has six children living with her. She loves to take them to the country, where she plans to move the family in a few years.

Tyron, 3, is the next to be adopted.

Jason and Kelly Pelloni also were at the courthouse last week. They waited three years to adopt Karla and Johnathan, both 3.

The day they got the news they could legally adopt, they found out Kelly is pregnant.

"An instant family," she said. The kids had awakened everyone in their Carrollwood home at 4:30 a.m. Later they were headed to Walt Disney World to celebrate.

"Everybody thinks we couldn't have kids, but there's so many kids out there who need homes," Kelly Pelloni said.

[Last modified November 22, 2006, 09:10:01]