Victim of the system.The road to parenthood can be difficult for many gay and lesbian couples. But for Corri Planck, deputy executive director of the Family Pride Coalition, and her partner of six years, Dianne Hardy-Garcia, it's also been tragic. As eager prospective parents, the Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, couple became licensed to foster children with an eye toward adopting. In January 2005 their first foster child, 2-year-old Sarah Chavez, arrived. "She was such a precious little girl," says Hardy-Garcia. "We were just overjoyed o·ver·joy tr.v. o·ver·joyed, o·ver·joy·ing, o·ver·joys To fill with joy; delight. o to have her in our home. She was spectacular." The details of Sarah's history were murky. She had lived with her aunt and uncle; and both her medical records and her own behavior pointed to a pattern of abuse. "You could tell that she'd been exposed to violence," says Hardy-Garcia. Despite that evidence and through a cavalcade cav·al·cade n. 1. A procession of riders or horse-drawn carriages. 2. A ceremonial procession or display. 3. A succession or series: starred in a cavalcade of Broadway hits. of official missteps and oversights, Sarah was ordered returned to her aunt and uncle in April 2005. By October she was dead, allegedly beaten by her aunt and uncle, who later pleaded not guilty to murder charges and are awaiting trial. "The legal, medical, and social services social services Noun, pl welfare services provided by local authorities or a state agency for people with particular social needs social services npl → servicios mpl sociales systems let her down," says Hardy-Garcia. "The systems that were designed to protect Sarah failed in every way." While devastated dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. by what happened and committed to keeping Sarah's memory alive, Planck and Hardy-Garcia are now the proud foster parents of two sisters, ages 2 and 3, whom they hope to adopt by midsummer. "We still miss Sarah every day," says Hardy-Garcia. "I think only people who have lost a child really can understand loving the kids you have while missing this other child that you really adored a·dore v. a·dored, a·dor·ing, a·dores v.tr. 1. To worship as God or a god. 2. To regard with deep, often rapturous love. See Synonyms at revere1. 3. ." |
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