This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Re "Utah adoption law: model for nation or unjust burden?" (Tribune Dec. 26):
As a supervisor in a large public adoption agency for four decades, I dealt with unwed parents and the termination of their rights, voluntarily or by judicial decree. I observed the long-term consequences of the severing of parent-child bonds.
At best, the disruption of ties between children and either one or both birth parents poses great psychological risks for all concerned. For the rest of their lives, parents must deal with the loss of a child and a sense of failure at parenthood, a basic human endeavor. Children deal with issues of abandonment, identity and self-worth, which become more acute with adolescence.
In my professional experience, being raised in a two-parent adoptive family does not guarantee a successful outcome for children. Adoption isn't always the panacea it is believed to be. It can be a source of great stress for adoptive parents that can lead to complete family breakdown.
On the other hand, I have seen great successes (and failures) in two-parent, single-mother, single-father and gay-parent homes, whether birth or adoptive.
For the sake of the children, we should keep an open mind.
Rodney Johnson
Farmington