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11-24-2004, 06:42 PM
Tue, Nov. 23, 2004
Gladney Center marks 1,501th international adoption
By Paul Bourgeois
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH - Being the 1,500th and the 1,501st international adoptions
facilitated by Fort Worth's Gladney Center meant nothing to Eugenia Meshova, 14,
and her 11-year-old brother, Ivan.
They now have parents and a new home in America. That's all that matters.
The two now are the children of Heidi and Alan Coretz of Dallas. Heidi, 35, a
rabbi, and Alan, 43, a computer specialist, also have a daughter Hannah, 6, who
is thrilled to have a big brother and sister.
All were at the Gladney Center for Adoptions on Tuesday to celebrate the
international adoption milestone.
Since its founding in 1887, Gladney has found homes for more than 26,000
children, including the 1,501 international adoptions it has enabled since 1992.
The Coretzes said they weren't looking to adopt internationally. It just
happened that way.
"We had always heard great things about Gladney," Heidi Coretz said, explaining
that Gladney's Bright Futures Camp this summer was a selling point.
Eugenia and Ivan were living at an orphanage in Chuvashiaa, Russia, when they
were chosen for Bright Futures, an opportunity for orphaned children and
prospective parents to spend a few weeks together before making a decision.
Mike McMahon, Gladney's president, said international adoptions are outpacing
domestic adoptions despite tens of thousands of American children needing homes.
McMahon said the U.S. legal system, local bureaucracies and the restrictions
placed on adoptive parents send many overseas, where, even with the traveling
and language barriers, it can be easier to adopt.
Adopting internationally also virtually eliminates the possibility of birth
parents trying to regain custody or play a role in the children's lives.
So far, all but one of the 20 children who attended the camp this summer have
found adoptive families, said Paige McCoy Smith, a Gladney spokeswoman.
More at www.gladney.org .
© 2004 Star-Telegram.com All Rights Reserved.
________________________________________
Reprinted for educational purposes only.
Gladney Center marks 1,501th international adoption
By Paul Bourgeois
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH - Being the 1,500th and the 1,501st international adoptions
facilitated by Fort Worth's Gladney Center meant nothing to Eugenia Meshova, 14,
and her 11-year-old brother, Ivan.
They now have parents and a new home in America. That's all that matters.
The two now are the children of Heidi and Alan Coretz of Dallas. Heidi, 35, a
rabbi, and Alan, 43, a computer specialist, also have a daughter Hannah, 6, who
is thrilled to have a big brother and sister.
All were at the Gladney Center for Adoptions on Tuesday to celebrate the
international adoption milestone.
Since its founding in 1887, Gladney has found homes for more than 26,000
children, including the 1,501 international adoptions it has enabled since 1992.
The Coretzes said they weren't looking to adopt internationally. It just
happened that way.
"We had always heard great things about Gladney," Heidi Coretz said, explaining
that Gladney's Bright Futures Camp this summer was a selling point.
Eugenia and Ivan were living at an orphanage in Chuvashiaa, Russia, when they
were chosen for Bright Futures, an opportunity for orphaned children and
prospective parents to spend a few weeks together before making a decision.
Mike McMahon, Gladney's president, said international adoptions are outpacing
domestic adoptions despite tens of thousands of American children needing homes.
McMahon said the U.S. legal system, local bureaucracies and the restrictions
placed on adoptive parents send many overseas, where, even with the traveling
and language barriers, it can be easier to adopt.
Adopting internationally also virtually eliminates the possibility of birth
parents trying to regain custody or play a role in the children's lives.
So far, all but one of the 20 children who attended the camp this summer have
found adoptive families, said Paige McCoy Smith, a Gladney spokeswoman.
More at www.gladney.org .
© 2004 Star-Telegram.com All Rights Reserved.
________________________________________
Reprinted for educational purposes only.
