As nice as it might be, the simple fact is that Andi’s a single parent, and likely has a relatively small place that’d be a bit too cramped to house 3 people, children or not. Couple that with financial issues, and it’s not exactly a realistic expectation.
They are sisters, after all. Plus, the right time never comes along, whether it’s to have kids, buy a car, a house, plan a vacation, change careers–we simply make it so by doing it. And although Andi can take Amanda today, there’s nothing to stop her from beginning the paperwork to adopt Keisha too.
I’m really hoping this is Keisha’s idea of a joke. I can understand Keisha and Amanda refusing to go without each other, but thinking she’s just going along with Amanda with zero discussion? I could understand if they were 4 or 5, but this twist seems kind of dumb for a fourth grader.
The ridiculousness of Keisha’s plan is amplified even further after Selkie called her out for being a bad friend to Heather. Keisha should know that there will need to be some discussion at the very least.
I wouldn’t call *anything* like that “dumb”—even if it’s immature for the age level. Different kids develop and understand certain concepts at different times. A concept that make sense to a younger child may still be developing in a older one. That doesn’t mean that child is stupid or even developmentally delayed. Some kids just take longer to grasp different things and a child who’s lived like Keisha (we don’t even know her history before she became a foster child).
However, thinking back to the conversation Selkie had with her, it does seem like she’d have some kind of grasp it’s not going to happen. If she doesn’t, it’s not stupid—but probably more denial and heavy wishful thinking. That kind of behavior can happen in little ones—sometimes as late as 13.
Denial and heavy wishful thinking? It’s a coping mechanism. Adults do it too. We believe what we need to believe. We’re just (usually) more skilled at covering it over with rationalizations.
” I can understand Keisha and Amanda refusing to go without each other, but thinking she’s just going along with Amanda with zero discussion?”
It’s been established that Amanda and Keisha want to be adopted together. Originally Heather was “supposed” to be part of the three that get adopted and Heather’s adoption is part of why Amanda was bitter towards her friend. How “realistic” this plan is, is irrelevant because they’re kids. It’s still “the plan”, so why wouldn’t Keisha think that Amanda’s Mom is going to take her along?
If they don’t know why it doesn’t make sense, then why not?
I think Amanda is going to refuse (or at least fight going with Andi) unless Keisha goes too. 8 year olds can live on wish fulfillment fantasy alone.it hasn’t occurred to Keisha but it’s not going to play out like they’ve always promised each other.
Oh man, this is either going to lead up to heartwarming shenanigans (went in for one kid, left with two, silliness abounds) or really severe angst/anger/distrust/other unpleasantness (either from Keisha not getting adopted too, from Amanda for Keisha not getting adopted, or both)
Poor Keisha…Now I understand why she’s been smiling this whole time. She still thinks one girl finds a mom, that means both of them do…Wonder who’s going to play the bad guy, Andi or Lillian. Hate to say it, I hope Lillian, only because I don’t want there to be bad blood with Amanda and Andi. Though Andi could of phrased the last sentence better…
If you remember the rule and that “weird” is one of the weird ones, you will never misspell “weird.”
Survey says… it’s not ideal because English spelling is not ideal, but it’s still useful, and a lot of the exceptions aren’t common words anyway. (Kinda like the idea that “purple” has rhymes… in words that very few people even realize are words, because one of them is jargon for horse-lovers and I forget what the other one is.)
I don’t know that I would want to see ie/ei changed, but I’m in favor of some other upgrades to our current spelling system. A handful of other countries have pulled it off. My first suggestion is to take words that end in -ead and are pronounced with the short “eh” sound (head, bread, tread, lead, etc.) and spell them with an -edd (hedd, bredd, tredd, ledd), which’d avoid homograph problems (bread/bred), keep it the same length for Scrabble (and only 1 point higher), be easily pronounceable without error even for beginners, and look like some weird Swedish stuff only briefly before we assimilated it into our understanding of English spelling.
Also, all my dreams of spelling reform are 100% for America — I don’t care if other countries do or don’t follow suit, we’ve differentiated from them in small ways before (honor/honour and theater/theatre), and if we had to worry about 100% of countries that use English the task would be even more monumentally impossible than it seems now.
way back in the Dark Ages… 😀 (1954 i’m pretty sure) the Author John Dalmas wrote a scifi book titled “The General’s President” and that was one of the things the main character did, he got a few different professors of English from various locations around the country with major accents, and gave them an assignment to “redesign the English language to be easier to learn and understand” they weren’t told about each other, and when he had all the individual results, he went back and combined them, then got together with all the Prof’s and they made tweaks together, once everyone involved was satisfied he then made a new law that that was to be taught in all schools (he basically had dictatorial powers at that point in the book due to massive political, sociological, and economic screw-ups. and Congress voting in “Presidential Emergency Powers” for the duration of the national crisis…. ) a very good book. (and some of the other stuff in there is very close to what’s happening today in real life, too)
That sounds like a pretty decent way to get a bead on the problem and potential solution, actually. You make me want to read that book. (Kinda reminds me of a book where they sent a group of the best and brightest off to Alpha Centauri or something, with the idea that they’d refill once they got there and return home, only it was a ruse because it was a suicide mission because they needed the best and brightest to get really bored and invent things to solve some problems back home. Boredom led to invention, and realizations, and the development of psychic powers… they turned the ship around, and the only other part I remember was that one couple on the ship invented a language made entirely of things you do while having sex.)
I’ve got a method of teaching English spelling through colors that I’ve been working over for like a decade. The colors show you which vowel rules are in play. I think it’s really good and I look forward to making it into a useful set of textbooks like the McGuffey Readers, but the research I need to do prior to that step includes finding out how well my system adapts to some of the major English accents that aren’t mine. Like having “ar” marked as a vowel combo for accents that don’t pronounce the R.
amanda has talent, but she hasn’t quite caught the rhythms of fluent swearing yet. andi is right to have her wait for more instruction.
i hope dave bends real world adoption rules and has andi adopt keisha too. those poor kids could use some nondrama. the kaboom if/when amanda finds out about todd and selkie will be quite loud enough.
Is it necessary to bend the rules of adoption for this? I mean even if it takes more time to file paperwork for Keisha too… it’ll still be a godsend if Andi bends and decides to take her as well
if they didn’t bend the rule, I think it would still be MONTHS before Keisha went home with Andi. I don’t think they can just simply scribble her name in on another set of forms, and I recall someone mentioning that Amanda’s Adoption process may have been streamlined somewhat by being Andi’s blood.
Such rules are commonly skirted by putting Keisha into Andy’s home as a foster child while the adoption goes through. Since foster parents get paid, this also can help with the expenses of transition.
Erg, hit post before i was done.
I also see it as being VERY likely that Amanda would work hard to keep Keisha from feeling left out if they were made ‘sisters’ in a more concrete legal sense beyond being bunkmates.
Well Keisha, technically Amanda’s not getting adopted – she’s going back to her real mom so the promise is null. But still ouch, poor kid thinks she’s won the lottery. If Andi did take her, we’d have a whole arc of getting used to Amanda AND interacial adoption (its possible as a spin-off comic since this one is about interspecies adoption).
Why would Andi be treated differently than any other adopted parent? Even if she is the bio mom, presumably she signed away her rights to Amanda when she gave her up. Or is that not how it works? Does it depend on the state? I feel like proof that you are able to care for the child should trump blood at this point.
Because most states favor bio parents. Look at the cases where they return and are actually able to make a case to take back children who already were adopted out. Most of those fail, but some of them actually go through. This sadly even includes abusive bio parents who lost their kids. There was a very sad documentary story about a little girl who ended up with a wonderful foster family for *years* but then her mentally bio mom came back for her and was actually able to claim her—which pretty much was traumatizing alone plus the fact the mom did not treat her kindly afterwards either.
Andi did not initiate adoption proceedings. She petitioned to have her parental rights restored. Since there was no other claim to Amanda, they were restored. Andi is authorized only to take Amanda. Adopting Keisha would require separate approval.
One side effect of having her rights restored, is that it also restores Todd’s rights. If it came down to it, Todd could petition for sole custody of Amanda.
I’ve thought about this, occasionally, since we found out who Amanda is. Andi signed away all right to Amanda. Todd didn’t. If he knew Amanda was the “stillborn baby”, he should just be able to go down there and say, “I want my kid”. I can see Andi having to jump through hoops to get her, but Todd – no, I don’t believe so.
If Todd’s name isn’t on the birth certificate, though, then Todd has no parental rights unless he can get his name there. This may be as “simple” as a paternity test (~$400, I hear), or require Andi do do a lot of pushing on the government wheels.
Personally, I would not be surprised if Todd’s name is NOT on the birth certificate. He wasn’t there, and Andi’s mom was pretty much running the show by that point. If Todd’s name had been on the cert, it’s possible (even probable? Here is where my data runs out…) that Amanda could not have been surrendered without his signature.
It wouldn’t be simple for Todd to get Amanda, either.
Whatever happens I hope Amanda fights for Keisha—even if they don’t end up leaving together. Keisha is the only child who’s stayed friends with her and stuck by her side. It would be so very sad to see their friendship end.
It’s a severe test of Amanda’s character. She has only just five seconds ago started to believe that this is really real, that she’s going to have a home, a mom, a family, someone who wants her. Is she going to risk that, her lifelong heart’s desire, for a promise made to a friend who stuck with her when they were both lonely and deserted?
God, I hope she passes. I’ll totally understand if she doesn’t, but if she does, if she speaks up and tells Andi “You gotta take Keisha too,” I will have so much respect for that little girl…!
Of course, realistically speaking, even if Andi is talked into it, even if this does start the process rolling, Keisha’s adoption cannot possibly happen today. There’s a mountain of paperwork.
Though… a thought. What about Andi taking Keisha in as a foster child, so the friends could stay together? I don’t know, would that be something Lillian could do on her own discretion?
Foster is faster than adoption, at least in this state, but there’s still a significant amount of paperwork and hoops to jump through. It’s what the adoption agency had my parents do to get my adopted sibs in their hands more quickly and no, Keisha still wouldn’t just be able to walk out with Andi. Took my parents more than a month and at least one home study…it’s been a few years so I don’t have the exact time frame in memory since I’d moved out by then. However, it was a significant amount of time, at least six weeks if not three months, and a couple parenting classes.
Frankly, Andi could probably use some parenting classes — going from zero to mom-of-a-kid-in-school in a few minutes? That’s gonna be rough. (I still can’t really comprehend how the hospital could let me wander out with my kid and the only “test” was the car seat one, to make sure that she could breathe in it. (Preemies have little/no neck fat and if their heads tip too far forward, they can cut off their own breathing.) Surely I should have had to say I had references! The humane society had me write down two references when we got cats there! There should have been an exam! At least a few true-false or multiple-choice questions! Like with the driver’s license and learner’s permit!)
If I was andi and I found out keshia was my daughter’s best friend and was there for her all those years I would turn to Lillie and say “make that two” cause I grew up were my mum always took in kids in my neighbourhood who’s parents were crap to them. I could stand by and know I tore those kids apart…they are sisters!
Still, nice bit of heartwarming between Andi and Amanda Marie, there. Yeah, I think I’ll call her Amande Marie from now on; that was how her mother named her. 😉
For those of you who want Andi to adopt Keisha as well… there’s a HUGE difference between “I went out to adopt a kitten, but I adopted TWO kittens instead” and “I went out to adopt an eight-year-old child, but I adopted TWO eight-year-old children instead”. Andi spent weeks, months, trying to track down Amanda and get her back. She has preparing to devote her life to being this child’s mom, just like Todd prepared to devote his life to being Selkie’s dad. “Okay, fine, I’ll adopt you both!” is not something she is going to say. It’s not something she could even afford. And Lilian would not be impressed by someone who’s so crazy impulsive as to offer to adopt *any* child on the spur of the moment.
This is not going to be like when Heather left: for one thing, Andi’s not in such a super rush that she won’t give Amanda the chance to say goodbye. Plus, Amanda will still be attending the same school (in reality, it’s possible that Andi would live in a different school district, but this story *needs* to have Amanda still constantly interacting with Selkie in the absence of their parents); I’m sure Andi would be perfectly willing to have Keisha visit regularly.
Leave Kiesha behind, Andi. A child’s promise means little if the parent cannot possibly take on the repercussions of that promise. Besides, as Selkie said, that is a pretty dumb thing to promise. And a pretty huge thing.
Someone else’ll come by and want her. They can still play at school, have sleepovers and such. Also not to mention, Andi’s parental rights and custody are being reinstated, so she’s not ACTUALLY adopting ANYone. Nor has she been approved to do so. It isn’t like the pound, where you just go and point and say “i want that one” >> I’m pretty sure that’s not how adoption works at all. You give a preference for age, gender, maybe ethnicity. And they make the choice, not you. It’s not the animal shelter…..
Erm, wrong. Adoptive parents do get to “pick” although the agency does have the choice to nix it if they feel the child’s best interests won’t be served…say because they are unlikely to be able to deal with a particular child’s special needs issues. They can even “shop” online – http://www.mare.org/ (website for Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange).
WOW, good thing you spelled it out… i rarely click thru links like that, so i (in a brain fart moment) thought you were sending us a link to a dating service for horses… my brain goes to some “interesting” corners of the universe sometimes….
That’s why I spelled it out. Looked like something horse to me the first time I saw it too. Several people in my fam keep horses so not that big a stretch. Still shake my head at it, kids might be costly but not as costly as feeding and/or boarding a good sized horse. Anybody who complains about dressing a kid needs to check out tack prices.
i was looking forward to an adoption scene similar to the comics roots, a happy heart warming moment, at least until the inevitable mess of lets make a family with 2 girls who hate each other later. i sence drama and broken hearts sooner than expected though 🙁
For maximum drama: Amanda and Keisha manage to force Andi into adopting them both. A few months pass, Andi realizes she can’t support both girls(she can barely support herself and Amanda), so she has to return Keisha.
I believe I read somewhere that not only are older children harder to adopt out, but non-white children have it even more difficult. So the chances for Keisha – an awesome little kid – dwindle daily, even faster than for Heather or Amanda.
Awkward thing that doesn’t seem to have been addressed by other commentors yet:
Andi probably isn’t going to be taking anybody, even Amanda, home today. She just had that conversation with Lillian about how Lillian isn’t going to release Amanda into anyone’s custody (even bio-family, which a lot of organizations and individuals are prejudiced to favour) until after confirming that said person is able to help Amanda with her emotional trauma and … social difficulties.
Yes, Lillian said “You can be reunited today if you wish,” but she never said anything about Andi taking Amanda with her when she leaves.
Andi wasn’t even supposed to be meeting Amanda under these circumstances – that was going to happen later, in Lillian’s office, with Lillian presumably easing the way a bit. If Amanda and Keisha hadn’t pounced on Andi as a ‘possible mom’, followed by the dancing and the fainting, Keisha might not even know Amanda might be leaving yet.
Assuming Lillian is still in the room (or at least someone is, not leaving the kids unsupervised with a woman who is still, you know, a stranger), this would be a good time to intervene with the whole “no one is leaving yet” clause.
I mean, yes, it’s going to be awful for Amanda, feeling like she’s being abandoned yet again, and for Keisha, being strung along … I’m not saying that it’s a good thing. I’m just saying that it might be possible for Andi to avoid an immediate, direct and open rejection of the idea of adopting Keisha.
Time for both Amanda and Keisha to learn something that they really should have figured out back when Heather was adopted, if not sooner: You can’t make “promises” that are binding on OTHER PEOPLE!
(There are exceptions, but this obviously isn’t one of them.)
Although, neither of them was in the room when Heather got adopted, so as far as they know, Heather didn’t bother to ask if they could come with her. (We don’t know, either. We didn’t see Heather’s adoption process until they were on their way out the door.)
Hey. Your voting ‘number’ seems to be broken (12405), at least for me. Whether I start here, or go to top web comics directly, the target link is the same (http://topwebcomics.com/vote/12405/default.aspx), but both take me to a time warner cable 404 page. One other comic worked, so it’s not everybody.
Please, Please, Please let her adopt Keisha too…
I’ve been chanting that in my head ever since she decided to get her kid back.
YES >_<
As nice as it might be, the simple fact is that Andi’s a single parent, and likely has a relatively small place that’d be a bit too cramped to house 3 people, children or not. Couple that with financial issues, and it’s not exactly a realistic expectation.
Top that with Artists don’t make much money and a so far unsuportive elder and Andi just doesn’t seem to have the infrastructure for two kids.
And children are expensive to maintain.
They are sisters, after all. Plus, the right time never comes along, whether it’s to have kids, buy a car, a house, plan a vacation, change careers–we simply make it so by doing it. And although Andi can take Amanda today, there’s nothing to stop her from beginning the paperwork to adopt Keisha too.
Well, this is awkward.
Poor Keisha… this is going to be a messy misunderstanding.
I’m really hoping this is Keisha’s idea of a joke. I can understand Keisha and Amanda refusing to go without each other, but thinking she’s just going along with Amanda with zero discussion? I could understand if they were 4 or 5, but this twist seems kind of dumb for a fourth grader.
The ridiculousness of Keisha’s plan is amplified even further after Selkie called her out for being a bad friend to Heather. Keisha should know that there will need to be some discussion at the very least.
I wouldn’t call *anything* like that “dumb”—even if it’s immature for the age level. Different kids develop and understand certain concepts at different times. A concept that make sense to a younger child may still be developing in a older one. That doesn’t mean that child is stupid or even developmentally delayed. Some kids just take longer to grasp different things and a child who’s lived like Keisha (we don’t even know her history before she became a foster child).
However, thinking back to the conversation Selkie had with her, it does seem like she’d have some kind of grasp it’s not going to happen. If she doesn’t, it’s not stupid—but probably more denial and heavy wishful thinking. That kind of behavior can happen in little ones—sometimes as late as 13.
Denial and heavy wishful thinking? It’s a coping mechanism. Adults do it too. We believe what we need to believe. We’re just (usually) more skilled at covering it over with rationalizations.
” I can understand Keisha and Amanda refusing to go without each other, but thinking she’s just going along with Amanda with zero discussion?”
It’s been established that Amanda and Keisha want to be adopted together. Originally Heather was “supposed” to be part of the three that get adopted and Heather’s adoption is part of why Amanda was bitter towards her friend. How “realistic” this plan is, is irrelevant because they’re kids. It’s still “the plan”, so why wouldn’t Keisha think that Amanda’s Mom is going to take her along?
If they don’t know why it doesn’t make sense, then why not?
I think Amanda is going to refuse (or at least fight going with Andi) unless Keisha goes too. 8 year olds can live on wish fulfillment fantasy alone.it hasn’t occurred to Keisha but it’s not going to play out like they’ve always promised each other.
Oh man, this is either going to lead up to heartwarming shenanigans (went in for one kid, left with two, silliness abounds) or really severe angst/anger/distrust/other unpleasantness (either from Keisha not getting adopted too, from Amanda for Keisha not getting adopted, or both)
Either way, let the waiting commence.
Poor Keisha…Now I understand why she’s been smiling this whole time. She still thinks one girl finds a mom, that means both of them do…Wonder who’s going to play the bad guy, Andi or Lillian. Hate to say it, I hope Lillian, only because I don’t want there to be bad blood with Amanda and Andi. Though Andi could of phrased the last sentence better…
There’s another possibility: Amanda plays the bad guy. She could be selfish, she could chastise Keisha for muscling in on her moment.
Aww, yeah, I thought Keisha was just really happy for Amanda 🙁
My heart is breaking for Keisha.
Andi’s words in the last panel? That’s what Crushing Disappointment sounds like. 🙁
And there it is. All hands, brace for impact.
Just an aside, Andi’s ‘wierd’ in the first panel should be ‘weird’.
I before E, except after C, or when sounded as A, or a bunch of exceptions to this rule… including Weird, which is one of the weird ones 🙂
(Man and woman symbols) grammer I hate English.
Actually, I’ve heard they don’t even *teach* the ‘rule’, seeing as there something like 900 ‘exceptions’.
If you remember the rule and that “weird” is one of the weird ones, you will never misspell “weird.”
Survey says… it’s not ideal because English spelling is not ideal, but it’s still useful, and a lot of the exceptions aren’t common words anyway. (Kinda like the idea that “purple” has rhymes… in words that very few people even realize are words, because one of them is jargon for horse-lovers and I forget what the other one is.)
For more info: http://mentalfloss.com/article/51635/how-i-e-except-after-c-rule
I don’t know that I would want to see ie/ei changed, but I’m in favor of some other upgrades to our current spelling system. A handful of other countries have pulled it off. My first suggestion is to take words that end in -ead and are pronounced with the short “eh” sound (head, bread, tread, lead, etc.) and spell them with an -edd (hedd, bredd, tredd, ledd), which’d avoid homograph problems (bread/bred), keep it the same length for Scrabble (and only 1 point higher), be easily pronounceable without error even for beginners, and look like some weird Swedish stuff only briefly before we assimilated it into our understanding of English spelling.
Also, all my dreams of spelling reform are 100% for America — I don’t care if other countries do or don’t follow suit, we’ve differentiated from them in small ways before (honor/honour and theater/theatre), and if we had to worry about 100% of countries that use English the task would be even more monumentally impossible than it seems now.
See also JBR’s answers to common arguments against spelling reform: http://www.xibalba.demon.co.uk/jbr/ortho.html
way back in the Dark Ages… 😀 (1954 i’m pretty sure) the Author John Dalmas wrote a scifi book titled “The General’s President” and that was one of the things the main character did, he got a few different professors of English from various locations around the country with major accents, and gave them an assignment to “redesign the English language to be easier to learn and understand” they weren’t told about each other, and when he had all the individual results, he went back and combined them, then got together with all the Prof’s and they made tweaks together, once everyone involved was satisfied he then made a new law that that was to be taught in all schools (he basically had dictatorial powers at that point in the book due to massive political, sociological, and economic screw-ups. and Congress voting in “Presidential Emergency Powers” for the duration of the national crisis…. ) a very good book. (and some of the other stuff in there is very close to what’s happening today in real life, too)
That sounds like a pretty decent way to get a bead on the problem and potential solution, actually. You make me want to read that book. (Kinda reminds me of a book where they sent a group of the best and brightest off to Alpha Centauri or something, with the idea that they’d refill once they got there and return home, only it was a ruse because it was a suicide mission because they needed the best and brightest to get really bored and invent things to solve some problems back home. Boredom led to invention, and realizations, and the development of psychic powers… they turned the ship around, and the only other part I remember was that one couple on the ship invented a language made entirely of things you do while having sex.)
I’ve got a method of teaching English spelling through colors that I’ve been working over for like a decade. The colors show you which vowel rules are in play. I think it’s really good and I look forward to making it into a useful set of textbooks like the McGuffey Readers, but the research I need to do prior to that step includes finding out how well my system adapts to some of the major English accents that aren’t mine. Like having “ar” marked as a vowel combo for accents that don’t pronounce the R.
Oh, my God, Amanda is so happy right now…
amanda has talent, but she hasn’t quite caught the rhythms of fluent swearing yet. andi is right to have her wait for more instruction.
i hope dave bends real world adoption rules and has andi adopt keisha too. those poor kids could use some nondrama. the kaboom if/when amanda finds out about todd and selkie will be quite loud enough.
Is it necessary to bend the rules of adoption for this? I mean even if it takes more time to file paperwork for Keisha too… it’ll still be a godsend if Andi bends and decides to take her as well
if they didn’t bend the rule, I think it would still be MONTHS before Keisha went home with Andi. I don’t think they can just simply scribble her name in on another set of forms, and I recall someone mentioning that Amanda’s Adoption process may have been streamlined somewhat by being Andi’s blood.
Such rules are commonly skirted by putting Keisha into Andy’s home as a foster child while the adoption goes through. Since foster parents get paid, this also can help with the expenses of transition.
Also, must post this link: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/part-of-my-adventure/
Good point. I’d forgotten that the Foster system actually exists.
Don’t think she’ll take Keisha, and if she did her shitty view on adoption would likely make her favor Amanda anyway. 🙁
Until Amanda calls her out on the favoritism, having lived that side of it, anyway.
Erg, hit post before i was done.
I also see it as being VERY likely that Amanda would work hard to keep Keisha from feeling left out if they were made ‘sisters’ in a more concrete legal sense beyond being bunkmates.
Well Keisha, technically Amanda’s not getting adopted – she’s going back to her real mom so the promise is null. But still ouch, poor kid thinks she’s won the lottery. If Andi did take her, we’d have a whole arc of getting used to Amanda AND interacial adoption (its possible as a spin-off comic since this one is about interspecies adoption).
Why would Andi be treated differently than any other adopted parent? Even if she is the bio mom, presumably she signed away her rights to Amanda when she gave her up. Or is that not how it works? Does it depend on the state? I feel like proof that you are able to care for the child should trump blood at this point.
Because most states favor bio parents. Look at the cases where they return and are actually able to make a case to take back children who already were adopted out. Most of those fail, but some of them actually go through. This sadly even includes abusive bio parents who lost their kids. There was a very sad documentary story about a little girl who ended up with a wonderful foster family for *years* but then her mentally bio mom came back for her and was actually able to claim her—which pretty much was traumatizing alone plus the fact the mom did not treat her kindly afterwards either.
Andi did not initiate adoption proceedings. She petitioned to have her parental rights restored. Since there was no other claim to Amanda, they were restored. Andi is authorized only to take Amanda. Adopting Keisha would require separate approval.
One side effect of having her rights restored, is that it also restores Todd’s rights. If it came down to it, Todd could petition for sole custody of Amanda.
I’ve thought about this, occasionally, since we found out who Amanda is. Andi signed away all right to Amanda. Todd didn’t. If he knew Amanda was the “stillborn baby”, he should just be able to go down there and say, “I want my kid”. I can see Andi having to jump through hoops to get her, but Todd – no, I don’t believe so.
If Todd’s name isn’t on the birth certificate, though, then Todd has no parental rights unless he can get his name there. This may be as “simple” as a paternity test (~$400, I hear), or require Andi do do a lot of pushing on the government wheels.
Personally, I would not be surprised if Todd’s name is NOT on the birth certificate. He wasn’t there, and Andi’s mom was pretty much running the show by that point. If Todd’s name had been on the cert, it’s possible (even probable? Here is where my data runs out…) that Amanda could not have been surrendered without his signature.
It wouldn’t be simple for Todd to get Amanda, either.
This will not end well.
Whatever happens I hope Amanda fights for Keisha—even if they don’t end up leaving together. Keisha is the only child who’s stayed friends with her and stuck by her side. It would be so very sad to see their friendship end.
Yeah. This. ^^^
It’s a severe test of Amanda’s character. She has only just five seconds ago started to believe that this is really real, that she’s going to have a home, a mom, a family, someone who wants her. Is she going to risk that, her lifelong heart’s desire, for a promise made to a friend who stuck with her when they were both lonely and deserted?
God, I hope she passes. I’ll totally understand if she doesn’t, but if she does, if she speaks up and tells Andi “You gotta take Keisha too,” I will have so much respect for that little girl…!
Of course, realistically speaking, even if Andi is talked into it, even if this does start the process rolling, Keisha’s adoption cannot possibly happen today. There’s a mountain of paperwork.
Though… a thought. What about Andi taking Keisha in as a foster child, so the friends could stay together? I don’t know, would that be something Lillian could do on her own discretion?
Foster is faster than adoption, at least in this state, but there’s still a significant amount of paperwork and hoops to jump through. It’s what the adoption agency had my parents do to get my adopted sibs in their hands more quickly and no, Keisha still wouldn’t just be able to walk out with Andi. Took my parents more than a month and at least one home study…it’s been a few years so I don’t have the exact time frame in memory since I’d moved out by then. However, it was a significant amount of time, at least six weeks if not three months, and a couple parenting classes.
Frankly, Andi could probably use some parenting classes — going from zero to mom-of-a-kid-in-school in a few minutes? That’s gonna be rough. (I still can’t really comprehend how the hospital could let me wander out with my kid and the only “test” was the car seat one, to make sure that she could breathe in it. (Preemies have little/no neck fat and if their heads tip too far forward, they can cut off their own breathing.) Surely I should have had to say I had references! The humane society had me write down two references when we got cats there! There should have been an exam! At least a few true-false or multiple-choice questions! Like with the driver’s license and learner’s permit!)
If I was andi and I found out keshia was my daughter’s best friend and was there for her all those years I would turn to Lillie and say “make that two” cause I grew up were my mum always took in kids in my neighbourhood who’s parents were crap to them. I could stand by and know I tore those kids apart…they are sisters!
I just hope this won’t end as badly as I think it will.
Queue “Heather was right!” from Keisha, when Amanda leaves with her mom and she’s left behind.
https://selkiecomic.com/comic/selkie527/
=(
Annnnd here comes the next difficult bit! ^^;
Still, nice bit of heartwarming between Andi and Amanda Marie, there. Yeah, I think I’ll call her Amande Marie from now on; that was how her mother named her. 😉
And the other shoe drops…..
For those of you who want Andi to adopt Keisha as well… there’s a HUGE difference between “I went out to adopt a kitten, but I adopted TWO kittens instead” and “I went out to adopt an eight-year-old child, but I adopted TWO eight-year-old children instead”. Andi spent weeks, months, trying to track down Amanda and get her back. She has preparing to devote her life to being this child’s mom, just like Todd prepared to devote his life to being Selkie’s dad. “Okay, fine, I’ll adopt you both!” is not something she is going to say. It’s not something she could even afford. And Lilian would not be impressed by someone who’s so crazy impulsive as to offer to adopt *any* child on the spur of the moment.
This is not going to be like when Heather left: for one thing, Andi’s not in such a super rush that she won’t give Amanda the chance to say goodbye. Plus, Amanda will still be attending the same school (in reality, it’s possible that Andi would live in a different school district, but this story *needs* to have Amanda still constantly interacting with Selkie in the absence of their parents); I’m sure Andi would be perfectly willing to have Keisha visit regularly.
Rather impressed how much of that conversation happened in one page. Next one is gonna be messy tho >.<
Leave Kiesha behind, Andi. A child’s promise means little if the parent cannot possibly take on the repercussions of that promise. Besides, as Selkie said, that is a pretty dumb thing to promise. And a pretty huge thing.
Someone else’ll come by and want her. They can still play at school, have sleepovers and such. Also not to mention, Andi’s parental rights and custody are being reinstated, so she’s not ACTUALLY adopting ANYone. Nor has she been approved to do so. It isn’t like the pound, where you just go and point and say “i want that one” >> I’m pretty sure that’s not how adoption works at all. You give a preference for age, gender, maybe ethnicity. And they make the choice, not you. It’s not the animal shelter…..
Erm, wrong. Adoptive parents do get to “pick” although the agency does have the choice to nix it if they feel the child’s best interests won’t be served…say because they are unlikely to be able to deal with a particular child’s special needs issues. They can even “shop” online – http://www.mare.org/ (website for Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange).
Admittedly, the waiting time is slightly longer than at the pound tho.
WOW, good thing you spelled it out… i rarely click thru links like that, so i (in a brain fart moment) thought you were sending us a link to a dating service for horses… my brain goes to some “interesting” corners of the universe sometimes….
That’s why I spelled it out. Looked like something horse to me the first time I saw it too. Several people in my fam keep horses so not that big a stretch. Still shake my head at it, kids might be costly but not as costly as feeding and/or boarding a good sized horse. Anybody who complains about dressing a kid needs to check out tack prices.
Notice how, in that 5th panel where Amanda has her face pressed up against Andi’s shoulder, we can see that her eye is all scrunched up?
Amanda is TERRIFIED that she’ll somehow annoy Andi into changing her mind.
i was looking forward to an adoption scene similar to the comics roots, a happy heart warming moment, at least until the inevitable mess of lets make a family with 2 girls who hate each other later. i sence drama and broken hearts sooner than expected though 🙁
For maximum drama: Amanda and Keisha manage to force Andi into adopting them both. A few months pass, Andi realizes she can’t support both girls(she can barely support herself and Amanda), so she has to return Keisha.
I believe I read somewhere that not only are older children harder to adopt out, but non-white children have it even more difficult. So the chances for Keisha – an awesome little kid – dwindle daily, even faster than for Heather or Amanda.
>but non-white children have it even more difficult.<
Unless you find one of Georgie's "crazy celebrities".
https://selkiecomic.com/comic/selkie26/ panel 5
This is gonna hurt sooo badly.
Awkward thing that doesn’t seem to have been addressed by other commentors yet:
Andi probably isn’t going to be taking anybody, even Amanda, home today. She just had that conversation with Lillian about how Lillian isn’t going to release Amanda into anyone’s custody (even bio-family, which a lot of organizations and individuals are prejudiced to favour) until after confirming that said person is able to help Amanda with her emotional trauma and … social difficulties.
Yes, Lillian said “You can be reunited today if you wish,” but she never said anything about Andi taking Amanda with her when she leaves.
Andi wasn’t even supposed to be meeting Amanda under these circumstances – that was going to happen later, in Lillian’s office, with Lillian presumably easing the way a bit. If Amanda and Keisha hadn’t pounced on Andi as a ‘possible mom’, followed by the dancing and the fainting, Keisha might not even know Amanda might be leaving yet.
Assuming Lillian is still in the room (or at least someone is, not leaving the kids unsupervised with a woman who is still, you know, a stranger), this would be a good time to intervene with the whole “no one is leaving yet” clause.
I mean, yes, it’s going to be awful for Amanda, feeling like she’s being abandoned yet again, and for Keisha, being strung along … I’m not saying that it’s a good thing. I’m just saying that it might be possible for Andi to avoid an immediate, direct and open rejection of the idea of adopting Keisha.
Time for both Amanda and Keisha to learn something that they really should have figured out back when Heather was adopted, if not sooner: You can’t make “promises” that are binding on OTHER PEOPLE!
(There are exceptions, but this obviously isn’t one of them.)
Although, neither of them was in the room when Heather got adopted, so as far as they know, Heather didn’t bother to ask if they could come with her. (We don’t know, either. We didn’t see Heather’s adoption process until they were on their way out the door.)
Hey. Your voting ‘number’ seems to be broken (12405), at least for me. Whether I start here, or go to top web comics directly, the target link is the same (http://topwebcomics.com/vote/12405/default.aspx), but both take me to a time warner cable 404 page. One other comic worked, so it’s not everybody.