Adoption Day Celebrated at Middlesex County Courthouse

On what Superior Court judge Travis L. Francis called "The happiest day at the Middlesex County Courthouse," 10 families adopted 10 children on Thursday in honor of National Adoption Day in New Brunswick. 

National Adoption Day is observed nationally on Nov. 17, and is meant to raise awareness of adoptions and the families involved with them, encourage others to adopt, and draw attention to the more than 100,000 children in foster care in the U.S. who are waiting for permanent homes, according to James P. Nolan Jr., chair of the Middlesex County Bar Foundation's National Adoption Day Committee.

The event was sponsored by the Middlesex County Superior Court, the Middlesex County Surrogate's Office, the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders, the New Jersey Department of Child Protection and Permanency and the Middlesex County Bar Foundation.

Holding his baby daughter Olivia, who Nolan and his wife adopted at the 2011 National Adoption Day observance at the courthouse, Nolan thanked the work of the court, social workers and DYFS workers who help facilitate placement of children into families.

He also praised the families for their decisions to stick with the adoption process, which can often include setbacks.

"You understand what it is about, how difficult it is," he said.

Nolan said that 4,500 children nationwide were expected to be adopted by families during this year's National Adoption Day.

Francis described the process of adoption as being more like a "marriage" and less like a birth.

"You became a family not because you share genes, but because you share love for each other," he said.

Middlesex County Sheriff Mildred Scott said she already had two daughters when her son was adopted into her family at the age of 13.

Her son's biological mother died when he was 12, Scott said. He is now 42, she said.

"The first time he called me mom really brought tears to my eyes," she said.

Scott praised the families in the courtroom for making the decision to adopt.

"Society cannot flourish without good people such as you," she said.

For more information on National Adoption Day, visit www.nationaladoptionday.org.