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A year's work came to fruition in San Francisco November 13-15, 1998, when PACER hosted the Southwest Regional Conference of the American Adoption Congress. More than 300 people attended the conference, which included a Thursday training day for adoption professionals, two days of varied workshops, and a Sunday brunch honoring the 20th anniversaries of both PACER and the AAC. The conference highlighted the Bay Area's role as a seedbed for ideas and activism in adoption reform, and many local activists, authors, artists, and practitioners led workshops or gave talks. Its theme, "May the Circle Be Unbroken," was chosen to underscore our twin goals of educating and unifying those touched by adoption personally or professionally.
The conference's theme was echoed at the opening registration table, where participants were greeted by registrar Merrill Hunn, her mother Peaches Clarke, and her reunited daughter Jodi Clarke. Fittingly, at least 30 people attended the conference with family members, either reunited children, spouses, cousins, or siblings.
Walls of the Holiday Inn conference rooms were beautified by panels of the very moving American Adoption Quilt, started by a group of birthmothers in North Carolina to support the open records cause. The quilt was delivered by Bastard Nation members returning victorious from Oregon's historic Measure 58 open-records initiative approved by voters the week before.
The conference officially opened with a comedy cabaret featuring comedian Reno, a New York adoptee whose search for her birthmother was featured in HBO's special "Reno Finds Her Mom." Her observations had the audience shrieking with laughter.
Other cultural offerings included screening of Sheila Ganz's film, "Unlocking the Heart of Adoption," folksinger Betsy Rose's one-woman show about her relinquishment of a daughter and many years' struggle later with infertility, Nancy Schimmel's songsmithing, a Friday night poetry reading moderated by Pam Parsons, and a workshop by the Playback Theatre Company of Sonoma County. For those seeking a change of pace after days of intense workshops, Friday night a group went to "Beach Blanket Babylon" and Saturday night some explored the bars of Polk Street near the hotel, an educational experience in itself.
At Friday's opening ceremony, the conference was welcomed to San Francisco by Tom Ammiano, president of the city's Board of Supervisors, who surprised everyone by relating the story of how he became a father by being a sperm donor, and began a relationship with his daughter years later. He presented a proclamation declaring the day "Adoption Rights Day in San Francisco," and offered his help in future efforts.
PACER's program committee, chaired by Susan Love, marshaled an extraordinary range of workshops aimed at all parts of the adoption relationship, significant others and professionals. Keynote speaker Joseph Chilton Pearce drew powerful lessons about current and past adoption practices with his comments on prenatal experiences on infants and mothers, and thought-provoking responses to Pearce's presentation came from a panel of experts that included open-adoption pioneer Sharon Kaplan-Roszia and two other adoptive parents, adoptees Virginia Keeler-Wolf, a therapist and adoption specialist, and Peter Watson, MD, a perinatologist, and a birthmother, author Lynn Franklin.
While there were too many workshops to mention each one, some that attracted particular attention included Madelyn Freundlich's presentations on ethical issues in adoption and on international adoption; pioneer Annette Baran's talk on buying and selling of babies; a panel of foster youth advocating for children in the foster care system; a panel on gay and lesbian adoptive parenting; an authors' panel moderated by Betty Jean Lifton (Lost and Found, etc.) and including Carol Shaefer (The Other Mother), Lynn Franklin (May the Circle Be Unbroken), Jean Strauss (BirthRight), Paula Friedman and Sarah Saffian (Ithaka); a workshop by two birth-mothers about conception through rape; Indian child welfare issues; Julia Sudbury's presentation on racial justice and transnational adoptees, and Carol Shaefer and her son Jack's presentation on their reunion history.
Other well-attended workshops included a men's panel, attorney Fred Greenman's birthfathers workshop, sessions on living open adoption presented by Beth Hall and a panel of local adoptive parents, mother-daughter presentations by Nancy Schimmel and daughter Nancy Ibsen and by Ronda Slater and daughter Jodi Fields (which made anyone who witnessed them believe in the power of genetics), and Jean Strauss's multi-media presentation on her maternal heritage and the importance of family history. Doug Ross facilitated a group for significant others on how to support a member of the adoption triad.
In the week leading up to the meeting, KGO radio had run interview spots with Susie Love and Ron Morgan, and on Saturday morning KRON -TV's anchor Ysobel Duron (herself a reunited birthmother) did a live interview about the conference with adoptee Carrie Buckner, her adoptive mother Colleen Buckner, and PACER board member Laura Ingram, a birthmother. The TV coverage caused at least one woman, who's searching for a daughter Carrie's age, to run down to the conference to meet everyone. Several journalists attended to gather background and make contacts.
The entire event was infused with high energy, emotion, solidarity and excitement at being together and feeling change underway personally, professionally and politically. We felt proud of ourselves and where our cause is going nationally, and came away with strengthened ties and many ideas for the future. Special thanks to PACER president Jane Calbreath, who coordinated the year-long organizing effort, program chair Susie Love, and registrar Merrill Hunn, all of whose efforts were recognized by the attendees as outstanding. The conference committee who brought the conference to fruition included: Maureen Armstrong, Renee Besta, Robin Bertoli, Julie Green, Laura Ingram, Doug Ross, Gail Smith and Susan Stordahl.
Laura Ingram is an a reunited birthmother and adoption activist. She may be reached at Lcingram@aol.com or 510/653-4637.
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