Special child adoption ceremonies will be held today in eastern Iowa and next Saturday in several cities across the state. Bambi Schrader is with Iowa KidsNet, which is one of the organizing agencies sponsoring “Adoption Saturday” events during November.
“This year, our theme is superheroes as Batman, Spiderman, Superman, Curious George, Luke Skywalker — they were all adopted,” Schrader says. “We’ll have some figures in costume who will be able to meet and greet the families and take pictures with the kids.”
Adoptions are often not a high priority in the legal system so counties set aside these days to do multiple adoptions, often with all-volunteer courthouse staffs in place. Court dates for adoptions otherwise may get bumped back which is discouraging, so Schrader says these events become extra special for the children and their new “forever families.” “It really is a celebration,” Schrader says. “I’ve never seen so many smiles in one place and so many tears of joy at one location at one time.”
Adoption ceremonies were held in Waterloo and Cedar Rapids Friday, while they’re being held today in Davenport. Many more are scheduled for next Saturday (Nov 22) in Council Bluffs, Des Moines, Sioux City and Webster City. Schrader says it’s easy to learn about the adoption process by going to the group’s website, Iowa-kids-net-dot-com.
(Reporting by Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)