AN OPEN LETTER TO THE EVAN B. DONALDSON ADOPTION INSTITUTE FROM BASTARD NATION

In December 2007, members of Bastard Nation attended the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute's "For the Records--National Conclave" in New York City. At the end of the day, nearly everyone agreed that compromise legislation to restore the right of birth certificate access to some adoptees and not others, is unacceptable. Participants never heard back from the Donaldson-- until June 25, that is, when we received an email from Susan Hicks, recently hired project administrator of the Donaldson's open records project. Ms. Hicks, self-described as the lead advocate for the Massachusetts "access" bill, sold a generation of Massachusetts adoptees down the river to get access for some.

Below is our Open Letter to the Donaldson Institute that we faxed and emailed earlier today regarding the hire of Ms Hicks. If you agree with us that the appointment of Ms Hicks is a slap in the face of adopted persons and activists who have worked tirelessly for acess for all, and calls into question the Donaldson's commitment to us, please let the Donaldson know.

BASTARD NATION: THE ADOPTEE RIGHTS ORGANIZATION

P.O. Box 1469

Edmond, OK 73083-1469

Voice/Fax 415-704-3166

www.bastards.org

Mr. Adam Pertman, Executive Director

Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute

120 E. 38th Street

New York, New York 10016

June 30, 2008

Dear Mr. Pertman:

We are in receipt of an email dated June 25, 2008 from your new project administrator, Susan Hicks. The subject line of the email is: Re: EBD "For the Records" National Conclave - FOLLOW-UP!

We at Bastard Nation were stunned to read that Ms. Hicks is now the new project administrator for the EBD and that she apparently became qualified for the appointment through her work on the Massachusetts adoptee access bill. Some of us at BN dealt with Ms. Hicks during the legislative process of SB 959. During this time, we found Ms. Hicks to be extremely secretive and unwilling to share any knowledge of the bill whatsoever. She was the opposite of collegial.

Moreover, for her to state, "I was the lead advocate and played an instrumental role in changing the birth certificate access law in Massachusetts" is not something that we feel deserves congratulations, never mind a job offer. The bill is not an equal access law because it does not allow all adopted adults access to their original birth certificates. The law is a compromise that leaves more than a generation of adoptees behind without the same rights as all other non-adopted adults.

Your own 2007 EBD statement, "For the Records," clearly recommends that every state should restore to all adoptees unrestricted access to their records. This report also recommends that state laws that do create a "sandwich' situation" in which some adult adopted persons get access to their records and others do not, should be revisited within three years of enactment. In 2009 will Susan Hicks revisit the legislation that she herself supported?

If it is EBDs intention to bring all adoption reform groups together, then we must state up front that we do not understand the appointment of Susan Hicks to this position. Not only do we not understand the appointment, we are left to wonder at the future direction of the institute. Certainly Ms. Hick's background strongly suggests that the institute is headed in a direction that rewards compromises instead of genuine equal access for all.

We appreciate your time and hope that you will address our concerns.

Sincerely,

Marley Greiner, Chair

Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization

Executive Committee

Marley Greiner

Anita Walker Field

Pat Marler

Legislative Advisor

Janet Allen, New Hampshire State Representative

The following blog was written on September 12, 2007, by Anita Walker Field. It was an open letter to Susan Hicks and the ABC Grounp. You can find it at www.grannieannie.org. It is copied here with permission.

OPEN LETTER TO SUSAN HICKS & ABC

WHAT WILL YOU TELL THE "BLACKLISTED ONES?"

The Massachusetts Committee of ABC was one of the prime supporters of SB 63. I have read over your webpage and discovered that something very important is totally missing from ABC's laundry list of superlatives about SB 63. The missing link is your feelings and attitudes toward the "Blacklisted Ones" – you know, the adopted men and women who happened to have been born on the politically incorrect dates between July 17, 1974 and December 31, 2007. What do you say to these adoptees who will still have to go to court to get their birth certificates?

Will you look them in the face and tell them how good SB 63 is?

Will you pat them on the back and thank them for being martyrs to the cause?

Will you tell them that you'll come back in a year or two to revisit the law and then you will support changing it to include the Blacklisted Ones?

Will you tell them that with all political issues there are bound to be scapegoats? And with SB 63, they are the scapegoats.

Will you look them in the eyes and tell them that this bill was the right thing to do?

Will you tell them that leaving them out in the cold was the politically expedient thing that you all had to do in order to get this bill passed into law?

Will you tell them you're sorry?

CALLING ALL CENTRAL OHIO BASTARDS: COMFEST WEEKEND

Bastardette has a lot to write about, but I'll have a busy weekend with Comfest here in Columbus. Although the Bastard Nation tent became just too much of a hassle to do, I work each year at the Columbus Free Press wine tent. In a couple hours I'm off to help set it up.

Oppositional researcher and political analyst Chip Berlet will make two appearances at Comfest this Saturday. His schedule, according to the official Comfest program is:

4:25 PM - Bozo State (no subject)
6:30 PM - Solar Stage (Progressive Thought and Political Workshop)

Here is a partial bio of Berlet from the Public Eye.org

Chip Berlet, senior analyst at Political Research Associates (PRA), has spent over twenty–five years studying prejudice, demonization, scapegoating, demagoguery, conspiracism, and authoritarianism. He has investigated far right hate groups, reactionary backlash movements, theocratic fundamentalism, civil liberties violations, police misconduct, government and private surveillance abuse, and other anti-democratic phenomena. He is a lively speaker defending democracy and diversity. Berlet is co–author, with Matthew N. Lyons, of Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort, (Guilford Press, 2000), which received a Gustavus Myers Center Award for outstanding scholarship on the subject of human rights and intolerance in North America. He is on the advisory boards of the Defending Dissent Foundation, the journal Totalitarian Movements and Political Religion, and PRA's Public Eye magazine.

The Columbus Free Press will also hold its monthly Salon at Comfest. Unfortunately it's at 4:30 PM at the Solar Stage, at the same time as Berlet's first talk.

There's also some local open source media workshops that look interesting.

Finally, the amazing Linda Dachtyl (ldb3) is playing at the I Wish You Jazz stage at 5:00 PM on Saturday.

So much good stuff!

Go to the Comfest page for more!

BASTARDETTE COMMUNIQUE: RUSSIAN ADOPTEE BLOG SITE NOW UP

On August 3, 2005, The Daily Bastardette published "Forever Family - Forever Dead: A Memoriam to Russian Adoptees Murdered by their Forever Families." Since then, that entry and my other pieces on abused and murdered Russian adoptees in the United States, I have received hundreds if not thousands of hits from the US Government, courts, child welfare agencies, the media, Russia and other countries of the Former Soviet Union, and the general public. To make it easier for these pieces to be found and read together in one place, I have collected all the entries here: Nikto Ne Zabyt - Nichto Ne Zabyto - Nobody is Forgotten - Nothing is Forgotten.

My entries on Masha Allen adopted by a divorced male pedophile, staved and sexually abused for years before her rescue by the FBI, are also here. Though freed from her Forever Father, she remains victim of the adoption industry and a blind and silent child welfare system that wants her to go away You see, Masha has talked too much She lifted up the rock. She is the Rosetta Stone of corrupt international adoption. Masha, too, must be remembered for the brave and beautiful girl she is--and to be encouraged to keep fighting. Masha, you are not alone!

The words "nobody is forgotten - nothing is forgotten" were written by Russian poet Olga Berggolts, a survivor of Stalin's purges and the Siege of Leningrad. They are carved in the wall of Piskaryevskoye Memorial Cemetery in St. Petersburg.

My Russian pieces will remain on The Daily Bastardette but also posted on Nikto Ne Zabyt - Nichto Ne Zabyto

FOREVER FAMILY - FOREVER DEAD UPDATE: KIMBERLY EMELYANTSEV PLEADS GUILTY

On June 20 Kimberly Emelyantsev, 33, pled guilty to a lowered charge of 2nd degree felony child abuse homicide in the death of her newly adopted Russian son, 14- month old Kolya. Emelyantsev initially told police Kolya fell off a chair, but later admitted that she'd dropped him on the floor--several times--causing his death by blunt force trauma to the head. (skull fracture).

Tooele (Utah) Deputy County Attorney Gary Searle said the amended charges were part of a plea bargain.

“It wasn’t an accident, but the intent to kill the child wasn’t there either.” He promised that details of the case will come out during the sentencing hearing scheduled for August 15.

Charges of child abuse against Emelyantsev and her Russian national husband Fyodor in connection with their 4-year old adopted son Luka were dropped after authorities and the county attorney's office were unable to find enough evidence to prosecute. Fydor, held on bond since his arrest in April, will be released. Luka, and Kimberley's biological children may be returned to the couple later. Luka, like Kolya, has Down Syndrome.


Bailiff Frank Scharmann directs Kimberly Emelyantsev into 3rd District Court Friday. Emelyantsev pled guilty to second-degree felony child abuse homicide in the death of her 14-month-old adopted son.

-- photography / Troy Boman--Tooele Transcript Bulletin

UPDATE: The June 23 edition of the Salt Lake City Tribune published a similar report but with the following addition:

"The woman dropped the child on March 6 "out of pure frustration," Searle said, who added that the child was "fussy," and "a lot of things were gon on in home involving the child and the family."

TEACH 'EM EARLY AND OFTEN: YOUR MOTHER DIDN'T WANT YOU

A year ago iBastard wrote a wonderful blog--Introducing the Adoption Apparel Translator--with illustrations. iBastard took to task those adoptive parents with their odd motives who dress their little adoptees, too young to voice their personal opinion about the whole thing, in adopta-tees: "I Grew in Mommy's Heart" and "Mommy's Lil' Guatling." (I know what you're thinking, but ...no, these are real!) My personal fav is "Special Delivery from Guatemala," spun out of the iBastard Translator as, "No, Mommy Did Not Fuck a Mexican."

Since then, the child saving sub-industry has expanded to market new and exciting promotional material for entitled braggards. This bib,* for example, courtesy of Bubblegum Bibs, ought to be next year's best seller due to the coming influx of Ethiopian "orphans" in the wake of the Guatemalan unpleasantness. (China is also available)


TRANSLATION: Your mother didn't want you. Oh, and by the way, your birth country sucks.

For a mere $15.00 you can send a message to your little international adoptee now that will warp him or her forever.

*NOTE TO ANGELINA JOLIE: Have nanny stock up!

I'M VOTING REPUBLICAN!

Spread the word!

ILLINOIS: TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME SARA FEIGENHOLTZ STYLE

Been wondering what our favorite Illinois adoptacrat Sara Feigenholtz has been up to? If you're as curious as an adoptee rummaging through her parents' desk, take a peek at Mary Fuller's latest Rights of Adoptee blog (and be sure to check out the hilarious comments.)

Rep. Feigenholtz recently spammed out a campaign fundraising letter inviting her fans--for a recommended donation--to an evening with her at 3609 Sheffield Rooftop--the in-crowd place to watch the Cubs

Chaos ensued.

Seems that Our Sarah (or an underling she can blame) misconfigured the list. Instead of a one-time announcement list, it's now a discussion list--and boy are people discussing! Reportedly those spammed (the ones who stuck around and didn't demand to be removed) included at least some of those adoptees and friends who at Sara's request sent emails to her months ago about her "open records bill" that she never bothered to answer. (NOTE: her plea for letters is still up)

STEALING HOME
This is a perfect protest event. The only problem is local adoptees would probably have to ante up the "recommended donation" to get in. First base seats (the cheapest) are $150, but since they couldn't even make it to there with Sara, they should feel free to sneak in. Better yet, as typical ungrateful adoptees, just break down the doors.

ETHICA PRESIDENT DEPARTS; SUCCESSOR NAMED

Ethica: A Voice for Ethical Adoption has announced the resignation of founder and president Trish Maskew. This fall Maskew will take a position with the US Department of Justice Office of Immigration Litigation. Current vice president and director of domestic policy Melissa Griebel will take over as president on June 20.

Trish has the funny idea that adoption should be ethical. She and Ethica are long-time friends of Bastard Nation and support and promotes the right of all adoptees to obtain their own original birth certificates. One of my fondest memories of Trish is the evening a few years ago that friends and I spent with her at Passage to India in Bethesda where we enjoyed fine food, fine drink, fine talk and a depressing fast and dirty education on the state of international adoption.

From Ethica's press release (see front homepage):

"In the past five years I've seen the adoption community progress towards recognizing and openly discussing the problems that can arise in domestic and international adoption, and begin working to improve accountability and transparency in the process," Maskew said. "While there is still much work to be done in assuring that adoption always puts the needs of the child first, progress has been made."

We wish Trish the best as she moves into DOJ. And the best to Melissa, too. You both have a big job ahead of you!

MASSACHUSETTS: AND THE BEAT GOES ON!

Oh look! The message on Ms. Morrisey's MySpace page has changed again.

Baby Safe Haven New England You Have To Wonder What's Up When some Moron Keeps Blogging DOWN What's on this Page.. Temporarily On Private Due To Busy Bodys That Have Nothing Better To Do!

What does "blogging DOWN" mean?

This grammatically and spelling challenged statement is rich coming from a SAHM with no previous interest in adoption, who apparently has had nothing better to do with herself for the last five years than busybody around adoption and undermine the identity rights of current and future adoptees through her and hubby's "Baby Safe Haven" dog and pony show.

Why does Ms. Morrisey frequently shut down her MySpace page, post bizarre messages on her profile about the closing, (aimed at me, apparently, though blogger Adopted Jane no doubt is also a public menace) and periodically keep the ever-curious public away from her own statement about her arrest? If I were her, I'd want the public to know my side of the story, not the report written by a "journalistic pig" and published by the local "journalistic rag." (see previous entries for explanation).

AND SHE CALLS US "BUSY BODYS"!
The fact is, Ms. Morrisey can dish it out, but she can't take it. For years she has busybodyed through AdoptionLand like a tornado. She has stuck her nose into the most intimate parts of adoptee lives: our rights, our identities, our public records, our emotions, and our hopes. By her legal baby dumping advocacy throughout the US she has been a major player in undermining best practice adoption standards and court procedures. She has been instrumental in destroying the rights of thousands of young and future adoptees and their ability to ever know their identities, their genealogies, their histories, and their families. Lord knows what damage she has caused natural parents and their families, torn apart and victimized by the quick-fix BSH Cult of pregnancy secrecy, shame and government-authorized anonymous infant abandonment.

AS THE WORM TURNS
When I was in high school the John Birch Society had an amusing daily hotline call-up on the latest Eisenhower-CPUSA-Bill Buckley-Woodrow Wilson conspiracy theory to roll off the JBS press. Every day I called in faithfully to listen on how the US was one big commie cesspool. MySpace Musical Chairs has resurrected that feeling of ritual expectation--that what-will- they-say-next excitement, though admittedly on a seriously mundane scale.

One has to wonder why Ms. Morrisey is acting out this very private self-defeating personal soap opera in public space.

Will YouTube be next?

Thanks to J (see entry below) for his tip-off.

MASSACHUSETTS: DOWN, UP, DOWN AGAIN, WHERE SHE'LL STOP NOBODY'S KNOWS

Jean Morrisey has once again locked her MySpace page.

My immense network of international internet spies informed me earlier this evening that the new private profile was tagged:

Baby Safe Haven New England This Page Is Closed Due To Privacy Invasion By An Extremest Group!!!!

That must refer to Bastardette and Adoptee Jane. No doubt reporter Ian Murphy, his editor, and the Lexington Police Department will soon be added to this vast internet privacy- invading conspiracy.

As of this writing the private profile tag reads:

Baby Safe Haven New England Police Reports ARE NOT Public Information Concerning Minors Medical Information... Wrong Again Bastardette!!!

Since I have never posted, nor have even attempted to post, on the Baby Safe Haven New England MySpace page or any Morrisey space (why would I?) this must confuse Ms. Morrisey's My Space friends. Who is Bastardette and why is Jean saying these things to her? But since the page is privatized, maybe she's blogging about me and they know all?

What high crime and misdemeanors have I committed to engender such notoriety?

(1) I posted a complete news article, with link, published by Gatehouse News Service on the recent arrest of Ms. Morrisey.

(2) I later posted, with no comment, a link to Ms. Morrisey's own MySpace statement on the incident reported by Gatehouse.

How is this extremist or an invasion of privacy? Doesn't Ms. Morrisey want the public to read her statement on the incident? Guess not!

Here's a little bit of advice:

• If you publish something in a public space, it's public!
• If you're arrested, it's public information.
• HIPAA has nothing to do with the release of information by police.

And then there's that little business of the First Amendment that guarantees us freedom of speech.

With the bad press, should we be surprised that soon a miracle baby will be delivered from the mouth of the dumpster to the arms of the Morriseys? I hope I'm wrong.


ADDENDA: June 14, 2008 10:08 AM
By 9:59 AM est today (and probably earlier) the "normal" page is back up and the nastygram removed.

OHIO: A CHILD'S WAITING--ANOTHER UPDATE

I just got off the phone with the legal services office at Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services. The June 16th A Child's Waiting hearing (postponed from June 2) has been canceled. ACW, the Skank Sisters, and ODJFS have reached a "settlement agreement." The person I spoke with said the paperwork is being processed and she didn't know what the settlement entailed.

The hearing did not involve the Bennett case.

I think it is pretty safe to say that ACW isn't the dead duck it should be. I suppose there are some sanctions, but what? I'll reserve judgment on the whole thing until I can learn more. It seems clear though, that running an adoption agency out of business in Ohio is impossible.

When I hear something, I'll let you know.

MASSACHUSETTS: BABY SAFE HAVEN NEWS UPDATE

I really like to let people speak in their own words The truth is oh-so more interesting than fantasy or what we want to believe.

Today, Jean Morrisey's MySpace page was unlocked and back to normal--the vulgar threat to the press removed. But never fear The threat has been replaced by a blog where Ms, Morrisey explains what happened at her home on June 4, and takes the local media to task. Apparently, the editor isn't real impressed with BSH or them. He must be removed!

BTW, police report are public information.

Go here for the latest.

MASSACHUSETTS: BABY SAFE HAVEN ADVOCATE CHARGED WITH DOMESTIC ASSAULT

Maybe he shoulda been safe havened.

From the Make My Day department:

Baby Safe Haven advocate charged with domestic assault
By Ian B. Murphy
GateHouse News Service
Posted Jun 11, 2008 @ 05:52 PM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LEXINGTON, Mass. —
Lexington resident Jean Morrisey, the co-founder of Baby Safe Haven New England, was arraigned on charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon at Concord District Court last week.

According to police reports, officers arrived at Morrisey’s home after her juvenile son called 911 June 4. Morrisey allegedly threw a drinking glass which hit her son in the head. He was treated at Winchester Hospital for a one-and-a-half inch cut.

Morrisey was arraigned June 5 at Concord District Court and was released under the condition that no further abuse occurs.

Michael Morrisey, Jean Morrisey’s husband, said their son was “released back to our custody in a matter of hours.”

According to the police report, a nurse at Winchester Hospital recommended the juvenile spend the night in the hospital’s care. The report also said the original argument between mother and son started over a bottle of shampoo.

Baby Safe Haven New England is an organization to promote the baby safe haven law, which was enacted in Massachusetts in 2004. The state baby safe haven law allows women to drop off an unwanted child at a hospital or police or fire station within seven days of its birth without the fear of being punished or having to give their names. Supporters say it limits the number of cases in which nervous mothers abandon unwanted children, leaving them to die.

Michael and Jean Morrisey pushed to pass the law in Massachusetts. Currently, 48 states have baby safe haven laws.

*****

Update: From Ms Morrisey's MySpace personal page header, now locked down as private:

Baby Safe Haven New England I'm gonna make sure that journalistic rag pays for what they have put my son through, breaking HIPPA regualtions regarding a minor, Just how low does it get?!!!

This was edited from an earlier header:

Baby Safe Haven New England I'm going to make sure that one journalistic pig pays for what he is putting my son through!!!

Life sure is sucky when you're no longer a media darling.


Adopted Jane has also blogged on this.

DISPATCHES FROM THE DARK SIDE

Surprise! Adoptee viewpoints ignored! Ever wonder what the Chicago Trib, AP, and USA Today think about us? 73adoptee deconstructs adoption media coverage and shows us just how much our voice DOESN'T count in the press with Media Bias in Adoption Reporting. Here's one of my favorite lines:

It says a lot about our society that childless couples get church fundraisers to buy a kid, yet adult adoptees and their birth relatives are all but silenced.

But, what's to be surprised at? As forever children in forever families, we selfish bastards don't exist. Back in 1996 or `97, Trib editor Bruce Dolt... er, I mean, Dold... called us adopted children over 15 times in an editorial denouncing our right to access our own birth records.

Speaking of media. Check out Ann Wilmer's marvelous Adoption Beat (not from the darkside!). Wilmer, a journalist, J-school professor, adoptee, and activist (Green Ribbons) has launched a great blog to discuss the media and adoption. We have a lot of work to do, and this can help us!

Enna Barreto update. Down in New Albany, Mississippi, Marianne Torres, 17, has been charged with capital murder but as of this writing, not arrested, in the death of her adopted sister Enna Barreto, 2, who died of blunt force trauma to the head. Torres' mother Janet Barreto and stepfather Ramon Baretto original suspects in the death, remain slammerized on $350,000 each, charged with child endangerment. The Barretos claim that Enna fell from a shopping cart. Still no word from ICE on the legal status of several other Barrato "adoptees,"and virtually no comment on how puppy mill operators living in a trailer were able to "adopt" seven children from Guatemala.

Just what we need! Another adoption trade association. According to a press release, out of Waco, Texas, "In an effort to withstand the growing pressure on small and mid-sized adoption agencies to cut services or close their doors" (think The Hague agreement) "nine Christian adoption agencies have joined together and created the National Christian Adoption Fellowship." Chairman Herbie Newell crows, "Not only will the fellowship revolutionize adoption in the United States, it will serve as a wonderful example of cooperation to our partners around the world." How they hope to revolutionize adoption isn't exactly explained. Sounds more like a syndicate to get around rules to me.

Members: A Helping Hand (Lexington, KY), Amazing Grace Adoptions (Raleigh, NC), Generations Adoptions (Waco, TX), Hope's Promise (Castle Rock, CO), Lifeline Children's Services (Birmingham, AL), Love Basket (!) (Hillsboro, MO), New Beginnings Int'l Children's & Family Services (Tupelo, MS), New Horizons Adoption Agency (Blue Earth, MN) and Nightlight Christian Adoptions (Fullerton, CA).

Helping Hand, Lifeline Children's Services, New Beginnings , and Nightlight Christian Adoptions, are NCFA agencies according to NCFA's member database. Nightlight, of course, is a leader in let's pretend adoptions-- embryos. (Dr. Pierce must be spinning!)

Rather than link each agency here, go over to the National Christian Adoption Fellowship website and nose around. You can find links to each member here. I'll be digging into them later.

Bastardette
Signing off from the darkside

BB CHURCH: THE LIGHT GOES DIM

Anybody who doesn't know that politics is crime has got a few screws loose.
....James Ellroy

Tonight, one of the brightest Bastard lights went dim. Ron Morgan, aka B. B. Church, has retired from the movement

I cannot tell you how sad this announcement is for us. Ron has been around longer than almost anyone. He predates Bastard Nation. I first met him on AIML around 1995 and immediately loved his brilliance, his humor, his cut-to-the-core style. Ron is the heart of the adoptee rights movement. He is the Heart of the Bastard. Ron has been our Real Politiker. He knows how things really work, not how we think they should work or want them to work. Ron is a theorist, a philosopher, a writer. Our blood poet. Ron understands AdoptionLand dirt and corruption. He's walked the gutter. Ron is one of the few masculine voices heard above the cacophony of the girrrly girl world of adoption reform. Maybe that's the problem.

Sometimes shit happens.

As Ron writes tonight on his blog:

I am simply posting tonight to announce that I am no longer participating in the Day for Adoptee Rights event. The event is still going on without me, I wish them well. By the same token, I wish those who have pulled out of the event, including Bastard Nation, well in their endeavors. I am also announcing my retirement from “adoptee politics”, such as it is, although I will still post from time to time on on this blog on issues relating to adoptee rights.

Ron's departure makes a lot of us want to join him on the porch of the Old Bastard's Home The fun stopped long ago.

FOREVER FAMILY, FOREVER DEAD UPDATE: VIKTOR MATTHEY

Today's Pravda has an update on the case of murdered Russian adoptee, Viktor Matthey, born Viktor Sergievich Tulimov and adopted from the Amur Region of Siberia. As you may recall, in 2000, 7-year old Viktor, who had been in the US for 10 months, died of cardiac arrest due to hypothermia after adoptive parents Robert and Brenda Matthey, whose history of child abuse was revealed during their trial, locked him overnight in a damp unheated pump room. He also suffered over 40 cuts, scrapes, bruises and untreated fractures. Robert Matthey admitted beating Viktor with an aluminum baseball bat, a belt, 2 whips, and his open hand.

Though there is not much new information in the article, we learn that Viktor's paternal adoptive grandmother, Phyllis Matthey-Johnson, who testified against her son and daughter-in law in court, has finally been allowed to adopt Viktor's twin brothers Volodya and Zhenya, now 12, first adopted by Mattheys. A Catholic, Matthey-Johnson, according to the article, denounced her born again Pentecostal son saying she "could not understand people who combine faith with whips." The article says that the Matthey's four biological sons (some now adults) were put under the guardianship of the family's Pentecostal pastor, KM Szicrek.

No word if anybody checked up on them. According to Pravda, the four children "hate" their grandmother. There is no indication in other articles, however, that this is the case, especially since the older ones testified to the abusive treatment Viktor and his brothers underwent at the hands of the Mattheys.

For more information on Viktor and other murdered Russian adoptees go to Forever Family, Forever Dead linked above under Vitya's name. Of special interest is The Short Life of Viktor Matthey linked under his segment in that blog. Also check the sidebar to the right under "dead Russian adoptees" for comments on other Russian cases.

Nikto ne zabyt - Nichto ne zabyto

OHIO: A CHILD'S WAITING HEARING UDATE

I went down to 30 E. Broad this morning for the first day of the 3-week Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services ACW licensing hearing and learned it has been postponed until June 16. The person I spoke with informed me that there is “talk of a settlement.” In AdoptaLingo that probably means a license revocation won’t happen, but a suspension might. But maybe not! Stay tuned for more!

ANNOUNCEMENT! BASTARD NATION WITHDRAWS FROM A DAY FOR ADOPTEE RIGHTS

June 1, 2008

To: Members, Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization

Re: Withdrawal of Bastard Nation from A Day for Adoptee Rights

Bastards,

The Executive Committee of Bastard Nation: the Adoptee Rights Organization announces with regret the withdrawal of our organizational co-sponsorship and official participation in A Day for Adoptee Rights, (DAR) scheduled for July 20-25 during the National Conference of State Legislature's annual meeting in New Orleans. We had planned to hold a "Bastard Boot Camp Teach-In" on July 20, participate in the protest on July 22, and help staff the DAR space inside the Mariol Convention Center July 23-25.

We sincerely regret any inconvenience or discouragement this decision may cause.

As of this writing the event itself has not been canceled, only Bastard Nation's co-sponsorship and participation. Please check the DAR website for updates on the status of the event. http://adopteerights.net/nulliusfilius/

Bastard Nation has been concerned for some time about the cost effectiveness of the project. While many people exhibited an interest in attending all or part of the event, the number of people who actually registered or made a serious commitment to attend was minimal. There were also hidden costs at the convention center, of which DAR and BN were not aware of until recently, which put our participation extremely over budget.

Bastard Nation believes that the Day for Adoptee Rights project is a sound idea. There is no dispute between BN and DAR. We have concluded that this is not the time or place for Bastard Nation to take part in a Day for Adoptee Rights. The cost of the event this year spiraled and did not balance with the number of participants coming forward to show our strength to the politicians who hold the keys to the records cabinets. Bastard Nation is an all volunteer organization that works on the foundational financial principle of bringing you the best bang for your buck. Spending several thousand dollars in member dues and donations on a project that at this point was sputtering is fiscally irresponsible, movement careless, and takes time and funds away from legislative and educational activities that can make a direct difference now.

Moreover, we are concerned with the participation of Abrazo Adoption Agency in San Antonio, Texas. Unknown to DAR and BN until just a few days ago, Abrazo has been raising funds for the event in DAR's name. http://apps.facebook.com/causes/85456?recruiter_id=15092383

These funds went and continue to go directly to the agency, raising huge ethical issues for Bastard Nation and the equal access movement. Records and identity access is about our rights and has no connection with the marketing schemes of adoption agencies. BN has a long-standing, hard-line policy of accepting no support from the adoption industry. Bastard Nation specifically, and the adoptee rights movement in general, cannot and should not be co-opted or used by the adoption industry to promote its own agenda. We disavow all industry involvement in our work. Any entanglement with the adoption industry endangers the integrity and credibility of the adoptee rights movement.

Although BN solicited funds for our specific DAR activities, the only official fundraising site for DAR is on the DAR site. Do not send funds to any other solicitor.

Bastard Nation is in the process of working with the Country Inn and Suites by Carlson to release the rooms in our reserved block. We will personally contact everyone who registered under our agreement with the hotel about the procedure for you to cancel room reservations should you desire to do so.

We greatly appreciate the work that volunteers from Bastard Nation and A Day for Adoptee Rights have put into this event. Without them and you there is no movement. We applaud your enthusiasm, commitment and we look forward to future activities to restore our rights.

Please write to our Executive Chair, Marley Greiner (maddogmarley@worldnet.att.net) if you have any questions.

Yours in Bastardy,

The Bastard Nation Executive Committee

Anita Walker Field

Patricia Marler

Marley Greiner, Executive Chair