Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
I have had the special privilege of working some adoption cases. By and large, it is one of the most positive things you can ever experience: the child is overjoyed to have a forever home with someone who loves them; their guardian, having fought fiercely to protect the rights of the child, sees their burden lifted; the adopting couple radiate all the happiness and understandable nervousness of new parents. Judges are smiling; court reporters are smiling; attorneys are smiling extended family are smiling.
There is no opposition or contested hearings — the tears are over; the heavy lifting is done; the numbers crunched and the compromises reached.