Jonathan Farrell reported to court on the morning of Nov. 14 in fuzzy blue pants, wide-eyed and reticent. He stared intently at Judge Roland K. McDaniel Jr.’s colorful tie throughout the court proceeding and let his parents do the talking for him.
But instead of a court sentence, 6-month-old Jonathan got a teddy bear from McDaniel, a probate judge at the Regional Children’s Probate Court in New London, to celebrate the day his adoption to Old Lyme residents Bill and Liz Farrell became final.
Bill Farrell II’s parents, Mary and Bill Farrell of Wallingford, accompanied the couple to court, as did Sandra Couillard, executive director of adoption agency CARA (Child Adoption Resource Association), and CARA social worker Allyson Foerster.
“Happy adoption day,” said Couillard, rubbing Jonathan’s head.
Jonathan is one of only a handful of children this year that have gone through a private adoption process through CARA that involved working with the birth parents from pregnancy, said Couillard. The agency handles both private adoptions and adoptions through the state’s Department of Children and Families.
Because of CARA’s involvement with Jonathan’s birth mother, Jonathan has been with the Farrells since he was 2 weeks old, and the birth and adoptive parents will continue to have a relationship well into Jonathan’s first year, the couple said.
The birth mother was invited to the celebration the Farrells had planned for the day after the adoption was finalized, National Adoption Day. The Farrells had a ham ready from one of their resident pigs—Bill’s hobby is a farm on the couple’s property that includes a few pigs, a few chickens, and soon, a Jersey cow—and had prepared a box that will serve as a time capsule Jonathan can open when he’s older.
Liz Farrell, 37, said on the day the adoption was finalized that she was almost as excited as the day the couple brought Jonathan home.
“I was saying to Bill this morning, it feels almost like the day we got him, but there’s no panic,” she said.
The Farrells, who have been married 15 years, said they decided to adopt because they are unable to have children of their own. In 2004, there were 1.6 million adopted children in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The couple started the pre-adoption process in 1999. But their parenting days began with a black pug named Bear, who has been with them since they moved to Lyme after five years in London, when Farrell, 38, retired from his job as an equity research analyst.
On the day the adoption was finalized, Farrell called the experience a “grand adventure” and said he looked forward to the little moments rather than “looking so far out.”
“I’m so interested in this next step, which is crawling,” he said.
“Talking is going to be fun,” Liz Farrell added. “What is he going to say?”
By Jenna Cho
Staff Writer