My partner and I are adoptive parents of two boys.  As VIrginia residents, in order for us to adopt together, we had to rent our home out in VIrginia (that we have owned for 10 years) and move to DC.  It is a crazy notion that we could move 10 miles across the Potomac River, and the laws that applied there were totally non-discriminatory.  I believe the state of Virginia had NO RIGHT to be involved in our private adoption contracts.  Both birth mothers CHOSE us to rasie their children as our own.  Why should the state be involved? 

We are not a rich couple, but we were forced to spend our life savings (and then some) to create our family through adoption.  I would love to send the state of Virginia a bill for the unnecessary expenses we have had to incur as a result of Virginia's discriminatory adoption policies.  This included renting our home out for less than the mortgage for an extended period of time.

Let me re-state what Equality Virginia has already put into words:

1. The best interests of the child should be the sole factor in deciding whether a child should be placed with a prospective foster care or adoptive parent or parents
2. State-licensed child placing agencies should not be allowed to discriminate against children or prospective parents based on race, national origin, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, political beliefs, sexual orientation, disability and family status
3. The State Board of Social Services should restore to the final rules the protections against such discrimination included in the proposed rules.