Court Makes It a Day for Families

Addicted to cocaine and weighing only three pounds when he was born five years ago, Kevin was a child nobody seemed to want.

But for Gabrielle Stewart, who spotted the infant in the arms of a social worker when he was only 3 weeks old, there was never any doubt. “I just knew he was the answer to my prayers,” said the nurse moments after a Superior Court judge Friday signed the papers officially making her a single parent.

Stewart was among about 40 new parents with reason to smile at the 27th annual Adoption Day in Court, sponsored by the Los Angeles County Department of Children’s Services.

In a downtown courtroom brimming with parents, children and well-wishers, two judges signed final adoption decrees for 28 youngsters ranging in age from 18 months to 11 years. The event aimed to focus attention on the more than 1,500 adoptions that take place in the county each year through public and private agencies.

Despite the upbeat tone of Friday’s event, county officials said there are far more adoptable children than there are adults who want them.

“At any given time, we’re seeking permanent homes for 1,000 children,” said Catherine Tracy, the children’s service agency’s chief deputy. “What you see here is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Among the new parents, Gerald and Rosemarie Bessette, both 61, had the distinction of adopting the youngest of the children, 18-month-old Nicolas, who has Down’s syndrome.

“He’s our sixth adopted child,” said Gerald Bessette, a retired Army sergeant, who said the couple first saw the infant on a TV news show last year “and we knew we just had to have him.”

Ana Flores, a county health care worker from Bellflower, said she decided to adopt a child after talking it over with her 12-year-old son, Dennis.

“It was really a joint decision. Dennis wanted a brother, and before my husband died, I always thought that we should have another child, so this has worked out like a dream,” she said of the decision to adopt Alfonzo, 11. “He and Dennis are as close as real brothers.”

For Ezell and Martha Culver of Arleta, who already have two teen-age children, their original doubts about raising another child were dispelled two years ago when they met Aric, now 10, during an adoption fair at a park in Carson.

“After talking with him for a few minutes I said, ‘Aric, do you know why you’re here?’ ” recalled Ezell Culver, a water utility supervisor. “He said, ‘What I want is a home to go to.’ My wife and I were extremely touched. At that point we just knew.”

Although Gabrielle Stewart said she never had doubts about adopting Kevin, Friday’s event marked the end of a five-year ordeal that started when she saw a social worker with the child at church.

After she had temporary custody of the child for more than two years, county officials with a court order took the youngster from her and placed him with his maternal grandmother in 1987.

“It was the end of my world, I thought,” recalled Stewart, who got a lawyer to help her regain custody of the child after the grandmother gave him up. She succeeded in getting Kevin back after three months.

Stewart said she is undaunted by his continuing health problems, saying that he has made “tremendous strides” for a child born under the influence of cocaine.

After a ceremony that included remarks by county children’s services officials, Stewart sat nervously, awaiting her turn to be called into the judge’s chambers for the adoption to become final.

After attesting to her true identity and the accuracy of the adoption petition submitted on her behalf, she pledged under oath to love and care for young Kevin as if he were her very own.

The ritual took less than five minutes.

“A great weight has been lifted,” she proclaimed afterward. “I think it’s time to take my baby home.”