Gina and Joann Jakeway envision their home filled with children.
The West Toledo couple have been together for four years and were married in October in New York state. They adopted now-19-month-old Kayn in April through Lucas County Children Services, but because Ohio did not recognize their marriage, only one of them could be Kayn’s legal parent.
With each child they hoped to adopt, the couple planned to take turns being the legal parent.
“We had to find a way to make sure we were family,” said Gina, a social worker at the University of Toledo Medical Center, the former Medical College of Ohio.
While Joann is their active little son’s legal parent, Gina had planned to do the honors for the infant girl they began fostering in January.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 26 decision affirming same-sex marriage nationwide changed all that.
On Monday, Lucas County Probate Judge Jack Puffenberger is set to formalize the Jakeways’ adoption of 6-month-old Devyn, and this time both Gina, 28, and Joann, 27, will be her legal parents with full rights to take her to the doctor, enroll her in school — to be her mom.
“You are going to have a wonderful life,” Gina said to the grinning baby girl during an interview last week.
Devyn’s adoption will be the first by a same-sex couple in Lucas County, Judge Puffenberger said.
Donna Seed, manager of placements at Children Services, said the agency has long facilitated adoptions for gay and lesbian couples who qualify, even though just one partner could legally adopt. She could not recall sexual orientation being a factor in adoptions during the 21 years she’s been with the agency.
“We believe children belong in families where they are nurtured and loved, and we believe family looks a lot of different ways,” Ms. Seed said.
While private adoption agencies say they work with same-sex couples, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Toledo requires that applicants are in a marriage involving a man and a woman — a policy based on Canon Law, said Andrea Slivka, spokesman for Catholic Charities.
Ohio law is very specific about who may not adopt. Individuals convicted of a sexual crime or crime of violence are disqualified from adopting. Those seeking to adopt undergo rigorous background checks, assessments, and home studies.
Judge Puffenberger, who has finalized some 7,000 adoptions in his 25 years on the bench, said he relies heavily on the assessment and recommendation from Children Services or any other agency handing the adoption. It’s crucial to him that every child be placed in a home where prospective parents are in a committed, stable relationship.
“A lot of these same-sex couples have been living together for a long time, and they have established a stable relationship even though they’re only recently allowed to be married,” the judge said. “That’s the issue that’s most critical to me — a stable family relationship.”
While many conservatives believe children need a father and a mother in the home, the judge said that’s not necessarily true.
“A lot of children are raised without a male parent in the home,” Judge Puffenberger said, adding, “In adoptions, I don’t know if you ever find the ‘perfect’ placement, but you certainly find the best placement possible for this child. Our focus is not really on the adults involved in the adoption process as much as it is the child. We’re looking at what’s best for the child.”
Ms. Seed said the older foster children Children Services works with put it best.
“When you talk about what family looks like to them, they say, ‘I just want someone to love me,’ ” she said.
Ohio law always has permitted adoptions by married couples, but the Supreme Court’s decision affirming same-sex marriages means same-sex couples may adopt jointly too.
Previously, many same-sex couples would seek co-custody agreements that gave the nonadoptive parent the same legal rights and responsibilities for the child as the legal adoptive parent.
Lucas County Juvenile Court Judge Connie Zemmelman said she has approved a couple dozen such agreements for same-sex couples during her eight years on the bench, though she suspects she will see fewer — if any — such requests now that same-sex marriage is the law of the land.
That’s just fine with the Jakeways. Gina said she “always, always, always” wanted to adopt particularly after her own family became involved with children’s services in Franklin County when she was growing up.
“I just wanted a ton of kids, and I didn’t see the point in birthing them,” she said. “There are so many kids out there who can use stability and love.”
She and Joann, a stay-at-home mother, hope the Supreme Court ruling will encourage more couples to adopt.
“I think anybody that has a consistent, structured home that can provide love to a child should consider fostering, then adopting,” Gina said.
“And that’s same-sex or not,” Joann said.
Added Gina: “Or single or people with kids or people with no kids. I think that it’s changed our life in ways I never thought it would have, even knowing my entire life I was going to adopt.”
Contact Jennifer Feehan at: jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-213-2134.
First Published July 18, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
