Saturday, September 27, 2008

More Nebraska Abandonment

Nebraskan, Gary Staton, Gives Up 9 of His Kids for Adoption


In another example of the harm of legalized abandonment, a man in Nebraska abandoned 9 of his 10 children because he was unemployed and his wife had died! How more obvious can it be that this legislation short-changes families in crisis from receiving the help they need - emotional and other forms of support and resources.

"I was with her [his wife] for 17 years, and then she was gone. What was I going to do?...We raised them together. I didn't think I could do it alone. I fell apart. I couldn't take care of them," Staton said to Omaha TV Station KETV.

No word on the age of the tenth one or whether that child is still living with Staton.

This brings the total in Nebraska, so far, to 16 since the law was enacted in July! And, none of the 16 were in danger of being abused, let alone had been, according to the Associated Press reports today.

Nebraska lawmakers reaction: "If we see another family being left off, then we're going to have to do something immediately," said state Sen. Arnie Stuthman, according to the source.

As for Staton's children, some families have volunteered to take care of them but a judge has yet to decide on permanent custody, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Human Services said.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is so similar to what happened to my mother and her 8 siblings (ranging in age from 18 to newborn) in 1929, after their father died. Their mother (my grandmother) walked away, apparently feeling unable to make a go of it alone. The oldest two got married, the others were scattered to other families, a few relatives, some older siblings took care of younger ones. Even though some of the connections were preserved, the family was essentially broken until some grew up and started searching for the others. At least back then, there was no judicial intervention, no deciding by strangers what was in the children's best interests. All were cared for, for better or worse.

I wonder, why in this day and age, 90 years later, we can't do any better.

AdoptAuthor said...

I'm so sorry, Denise.

It's eerie that this happened to yiur fmaily in 1929.

October 28, 1929: Black Monday stock market crash on the New York Stock Exchange and the beginning of the Great Depression.

Here we are just a month away from that fatal anniversary and on the brink of a repeat! And our country, I dare say, is in far worse moral decay in regards to how we treat family connectedness.

Marley Greiner said...

The oldest Staton daughter wasn't left She is 18, a high school grad, and lives away from home. She has been basically the caregiver for the 9 kids, even before her mother died at the age of 34 shortly after the birth of the last baby. (Rebeljane Staton's dream in life was to have 10 kids!) I've been blogging about this (have 2 up now and more will follow) and have collected a box of documents.

AdoptAuthor said...

Thanks, Marley.

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