When a family takes a leap into the world of adoption, they end up trusting experts in a number of roles to help them navigate the process. They spend hours with Child Protective Service workers, Court Appointed Special Advocates, adoption agency workers, and lawyers, many of whom have been through the process dozens of times. The family has only an inkling of what they are in for. When my family adopted our son out of foster care, we worked with a number of talented professionals who dedicated their lives to helping children get out of abusive situations, but when we met our adoption lawyer J. David Joyce, we knew we had found someone special. Not only did Joyce have 13 adopted siblings, he had adopted three children himself, and had worked tirelessly to make sure hundreds of families adopted children each year.
Despite everything in his personal life pointing toward becoming an adoption lawyer, Joyce took a circuitous route to finding his professional passion. Read this story from our May issue about how he found his way into helping families adopt, and think about supporting a child in foster care with your time, money, or even parenting ability. It’s online today.
