访谈录 2009-12-24&12-26 对不起这养子我们受不了了

A couple claim their adopted son has turned their home into a house of horrors. They say they love the boy, but he's become too much to handle. And now they wanna give him back and have the state return him to foster care. But the law says they can't. Ryan Owens has the story.

What you have for dinner?

Melissa Wescott sounds like any other mom, worried about her little boy.

How are you doing with your maths?

But her 11-year-old son isn't at camp or at grandma's house. He is locked up in a psychiatric hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In fact, he hasn’t been back in his bedroom in nearly a year. That's about to change.

The boy is scheduled to be released next month. Doctors say he is not a danger to himself or anyone else. Don't tell that to Melissa and her husband Tony.

He tried to burn our home down with a note saying: "I'm sorry, you had to die." He has manipulated, and just raged. We can't handle him.

 

The Wescotts who couldn't have a child of their own adopted the boy two years ago. He was 9. They were so excited to have a son, even kept a scrapbook: the Welcome to the Family Party, birthdays, learning to mow¹ the grass with dad. But there are other pictures that didn't make the scrapbook. The Wescotts say they found these butcher knives under his mattress², lighters³ hidden in the bed room.

Are you going to allow this child back into your home?
We have no choice, we face a felony if we don't.
And how afraid are you of having him back.
Tony won't sleep at night, I won't. I will stay awake.

Fearful of what might happen next. The Wescotts are fighting to return the child they promised to take care of.

It is not like we’re trying to return an itchy sweater.
The bottom line is, he needs help, he needs more help.

The state of Oklahoma says adoptive parents should be treated no different than birth parents.

 

 

A parent is a parent. I don't think there should be exceptions made for a birth parent nor for an adoptive parent.

Karen Poteet runs the state's post-adoption⁴ program. She says all parents are warned the children they are adopting were abused or neglected, and that symptoms of that abuse may manifest themselves years later. She knows that all too well. Potteet and her husband adopted two sisters in 2001.

My children were abused from the moment of conception because their birth mother chose to drink during the entire pregnancy⁵. That's no fault to my children.

 

 

She says the last thing adopted children need is to be rejected by another family. Fortunately, it's rare. There are 11 thousand children in Oklahoma's adoption system. This year, only 13 adoptions⁶ have been dissolved. The process is similar to a divorce, expensive and often lengthy⁷. The Wescotts can't afford it.

You just can't go to any therapist.

Members of this support group for adoptive parents say state law should make exceptions for the most violent children.

And if a family can show that they have exhausted⁸ every resource, every opportunity, everything they could do to save their families and this is what they're left with, then they should have this as an option. No one should be held hostage in their own homes.

But these are children that have to have someone stand up and advocate for them. And if we don't do it, who is gonna do it?

The Wescotts say they're out of options, their son is coming home January 12th.

Do you love this little boy?
Yes.
After all of this?
Yes.
And you believe loving him now means what?
Letting him go.

Love you.
If they do, they could be locked up for child abandonment.
Bye.
And the little boy will be locked out of yet another family.
For "Good Morning America", Ryan Owens, ABC News, Tulsa Oklahoma.

Man, you know, Robin⁹, is that old old saying--hard cases make bad law. And I think this is perfect example. I can't help but feel for the Wescotts. But boy, I just don't want Oklahoma to change their law--an adoptive parent should be just like a biological parent.

A parent is a parent. And you could feel that the Wescotts, they’re legitimate¹⁰ in being concerned given what they found under their son's bed. But what she said it’s like giving, it is not like giving back a woolly sweater. In kind of a way that's how they're treating it. I just can’t imagine a parent, you know, the biological parent or families that have this kind of issues, but you don’t give the child back.

The disclosure problem is a tough one. If they didn't know about these problems ahead of time that does raise a very very difficult question.
And please let us know, go to our website, our Shout Out (GMA Shout Out Board). Well, we’d love to know where you fall along this, in this issue.
It would be great to hear.

1 mow   

v.割（草、麦等），扫射，皱眉；n.草堆，谷物堆

参考例句：

• He hired a man to mow the lawn.他雇人割草。
• We shall have to mow down the tall grass in the big field.我们得把大田里的高草割掉。

2 mattress   

n.床垫，床褥

参考例句：

• The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
• The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。

3 lighters   

n.打火机，点火器( lighter的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The cargo is being discharged into lighters. 正在往驳船里卸货。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Babies'bootees and cheap cigarette lighters were displayed in unlikely juxtaposition. 儿童的短靴和廉价的打火机很不相称地陈列在一起。 来自辞典例句

4 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

5 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

6 adoptions   

n.采用，收养( adoption的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Adoption agencies are always so open to alternative family adoptions. 领养中介机构永远都对领养家庭敞开。 来自电影对白
• The number of adoptions has grown in the past year. 去年，收养子女的数字增加了。 来自互联网

7 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

8 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

9 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

10 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。