More Than 200 Local Families Add Children on National Adoption Day

To teenager Thea Acker it seemed fitting that Los Angeles County was the nation’s centerpiece for National Adoption Day on Saturday.

After all, this is the place where she was adopted as a baby. It’s the place where, on Saturday, she gained a giggling 2-year-old adopted brother. And it’s the place where other dreams come true, like the chance the 16-year-old aspiring singer had to try out for the TV show “American Idol” last Tuesday.

Acker, 16, is a proud member of a multicultural Pasadena family of two parents, two biological and three adopted children.

The Acker clan joined more than 200 Los Angeles County families at the Edmund D. Edelman Children’s Court in Monterey Park on Saturday morning, as they finalized adoptions and celebrated the event with Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson, actor Bruce Willis and actress Rhea Perlman.

Willis, who was appointed by President Bush as the national spokesman on children in foster care, said he may have saved the world numerous times on the big screen, but the real heroes are parents who adopt.

“Every time a child is adopted it makes a difference,” he said.

In order to speed up the legal process, which can often take months, social workers, families, children, attorneys and judges assemble at the courthouse on Adoption Saturday, a Los Angeles tradition since 1998, when it was launched by the county.

The county is home to the nation’s largest foster care system, with more than 33,000 children. In the last four years, 5,000 foster children have found permanent families through the Saturday program.

The Los Angeles idea caught on and soon became the model for National Adoption Day, which was celebrated in 34 cities Saturday. More than 1,400 adoptions were completed. But nearly 131,000 foster children across the country are still waiting for permanent families.

Thompson outlined the federal government’s push to boost adoption rates. The Bush administration recently launched a $4-million initiative to eliminate barriers to adopting children with special needs. It also launched a Web site in July that provides photographs and information about children who need families, he said.

At the courthouse Saturday toddlers wore two-piece suits, children clutched donated teddy bears and anxious families anticipated court hearings.

Acker, along with her family, waited for the adoption proceedings for 2-year-old Charles.

Her now seven-member family is a mishmash of ethnic backgrounds, ages and personalities.

The children’s father, Stephen Acker, is a Pasadena attorney and their mother, Debbie Jones, is an ex-stockbroker who left her job a couple of years ago to spend more time with the family.

“It’s stressful, like any family,” Jones said. “It’s kind of like a factory; we make lots of lunches and do lots of laundry.”

Nevertheless, the couple encouraged other families to follow in their path.

They adopted Eddie, 14, as a baby. He was born to Honduran parents, but his mother died from cancer and his father was never around.

They have two biological children, Stephen Jr., also 14, and Amelia, 18, a UC Irvine student.

Thea, adopted from Argentine parents, loves hip-hop, writing fairy tales and listening to singer Mariah Carey.

The latest addition, Charles, is a beefy, multiracial toddler whose mother gave him up because her lifestyle wasn’t fit for raising a child.

Thea said she hopes to help her younger brother understand some of the confusion surrounding adoption. For example, peers at school may question why he looks different from his parents, or may claim he’s not true to his ethnicity, she said.

She knows, because it has happened to her.

“I get made fun of because I am Latina but I grew up with white parents,” she said. “They call me ‘white girl.’ ”

She said she will also explain to him that parents should not be defined by a biological relationship, but rather by who raised you.

In the courtroom on Saturday morning, Judge Anthony Trendacosta announced, “The name of this child should henceforth be ‘Charles Franklin Acker.’ I’m signing the petition of order.”

Holding a teddy bear and sitting on his new mother’s lap, little Charles shrieked, “Mama!”