Subtitle: Is it ever okay to lie to adopt a child?
I have been extremely bothered for the last few days about an article I read, in of all places, Inside Counsel magazine. The magazine featured an interview with the General Counsel for a Chicago businessman who makes a living buying companies. At the very end of the article, there were a few questions about this lawyer's personal life: he is gay, lives with his partner of 15 years, and has 2 children. 2 children, you ask? Well, further information in the article, offered up for public scrutiny, very clearly states that the "couple" adopted the 2 children from Romania, a country which does not allow adoption by homosexuals, by deceit. (Mind you, I didn't guess about this--it is all stated in black & white type in the article as direct information from the interviewee). The lawyer created a "cover story" that he hadn't found the right woman yet, and needed an heir. Effectively, this lie circumvented the Romanian requirements (Romania being a sovereign country, and having every right to limit adoptions as they see fit), as well as the requirements of the United States--which are NOT that homosexuals cannot adopt, but that foreign adoptions must be conducted in a manner which does not circumvent the laws of the foreign country and/or the United States. Presumably the United States laws were somewhat compromised in that a social worker had to put a home study together, for USCIS and Romanian approval, that stated that the "story" told by the prospective parent was accurate and truthful.
Okay. We now have 3 individuals, at least 2 of which have professional ethics requirements and standards of care, that are seeing fit to modify how to comply with these requirements in an effort to get what they want.
I'm not sure why it is okay to lie to adopt a child. Okay, if he didn't "technically" lie (for example, if he would argue that he never stated that he was NOT homosexual) but only put a "spin" on his story that would be beneficial to achieving the goals he desired, is that any different?
I know I am very black & white about right & wrong, even for a lawyer. But even if you weren't under a religious conviction about right & wrong, how would this ever be considered proper behavior under the professional standards of conduct for lawyers?
If I EVER see this guy across the table for any sort of business-related deal, I will NEVER trust a word he says.
Oh, and one more thing--what do you tell your children when they grow up and ask how they became part of your family? "Oh, kids, we wanted you so much we lied to 2 governments to get you!" Boy, the glowing cockels of my heart from that statement...
