European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 14, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Kids and soldiers develop family tie by Dave Melancon Wurzburg Bureau f ourth grader Ryan Marshall adopted an older brother last Winter. The unofficial Quot adoption Quot did not take place through an Agency but rather through the Schweinfurt elementary school in Germany. Ryan and his Quot big brother Quot since january pvt. 2 Willie Ortiz cob 1st in 15th inf regt have swapped letters and birthday wishes and debated the merits of professional baseball and football teams. Earlier this month they climbed aboard a Bradley fighting vehicle and humvee during the a combination regimental organization Day and school Field trip Quot i m learning what it like to be a Soldier Quot 9-year-old Ryan said. Quot i liked Riding the scout humvee and the Bradley. We got a lot of things in  Quot it Given me a new respect for kids Quot Ortiz said. The relationship bet Wen Ryan and Ortiz began with a single Soldier Christmas present according to Carol Strum Ryan teacher at Schweinfurt. Quot it All started when one of my mothers came in and asked if the kids would decorate some bags for single soldiers. They were putting Little goodies in these bags a she said. A a. A after the Holiday break Strum said each Pupil was matched to a Soldier and die partnerships Between the infantrymen and schoolchildren began. Quot they started sending goodies mail and gifts to the. Held Quot said command sgt. Maj. Linton Porter the battalion senior noncommissioned officer. Porter soldiers frequently visit the classroom to talk about their hometowns explain a Soldier life and answer the student questions he said. The birthday and Holiday cards and letters will continue to boost the soldiers morale during deployments Porter said. One Soldier recently came Back from the Field and reported that the Only cards he received for his birthday came from the students Strum said. Quot the pen pal thing is just part of it Quot she said Quot three soldiers came by and took us Bowling on their Day  Quot the students need role models. These Young soldiers look at these students and see that they Are doing something that will influence that student life forever. The soldiers see a Small school kid that is really interested in  during their meetings with the soldiers which can sometimes result in Tough and pointed questions students learn about social studies geography jobs the soldiers military duties and their families Strum said. They also build their writing and thinking skills with the letters. Also the students learn about respect patience responsibility and citizenship she said. Quot they look at the soldiers like their Brothers and not authority figures Quot Strum said the soldiers some still in their teens learn about a Public speaking and gain some maturity she said. Soldiers Are reminded of their younger Brothers and Sisters Back Home Strum said. Quot it makes them feel better about being away from their family members that Are about that age a not that it is a substitute for their Brothers and  Quot the kids look up and Admire these soldiers. They ask for their autographs Quot she said. Quot i m sure the soldiers come out of this feeling really . Deborah Talaio 9, and her partner 1st it. Michael Schiesl cob Are learning about three legged racing the 1960s and school she said.1 Quot we re learning How to have fun together Quot she said Quot we talk about his past and about school. He wrote to me and told me about him self quo Quot a of lot  t get mail Quot Schiesl said. Quot it always Nice to get something in the mail a even when you re not out in the Field a it always Nice to open the Mailbox and see something in . A amps Dave Melancon children from Schweinfurt elementary and their adopted Quot soldiers Are off and running in a three legged race. At left the kids Check out a Bradley fighting vehicle inside and out. Birth fathers open new front in private adoption wars a amps Dave Melancon by Deborah Hastings the associated press get John and Peggy Stenbeck a suburban san Diego couple. She is a homemaker he manages a retail store. They have adopted two children a 4-year-old . And 3-year-old Michael or at least they thought that they had adopted Michael until the boy biological father stepped in to Stop the arrangement. 1. A and now in a Story that echoes the famed baby Jessica Case the Stenbeck Are caught in a Legal fight Over who should have custody of the boy they have raised since he was a Day  is the newest dilemma in private adoptions a biological fathers who demand custody when mothers choose to give a child away. It is a problem that yields More questions than answers How do you legislate an Industry whose Stock in Trade is human flesh and what Are the rights of biological fathers Quot in our society fathers have been seen As superfluous fathers have been nothing but breadwinners to the family Quot said Jon Ryan a spokesman for the National organization of birth fathers and adoption Reform who himself spent five years searching for his biological daughter. But stories like Michael Are forcing the system to pay More attention. \ a v a. A a Mark King had had a Brief and Stormy relationship with 15-year-old Stephanie Harman it ended with a fight when Harman was five months pregnant. King who has a history of drug abuse was arrested Tor hitting the girl but was never charged. At first King agreed with Harman that their baby should be adopted by the Stenbeck who knew her family. She moved in with the Stenbeck gave birth on feb. 27,1 1991, and signed the baby Over to them. But in the time after his breakup with Harman King had attempted suicide. While recuperating he had a. Change of heart and decided to raise his child a Day after Michael birth he sued for custody. There Are some differences from the baby Jessica Case. Cara Clausen decided to give away her baby without informing the father Dan Schmidt that she was pregnant. She changed her mind after the birth and Schmidt whom she later married asserted his rights. After nearly three years of court Battles the adoption was overturned. Screaming and crying Quot Mommy Quot 2-year-old Jessica was taken from the Jan and Roberts deboers in Michigan and sent to live with the schmidts in Iowa a a a a / a a a the outcome for Michael is still in doubt. A judge has named the Stenbeck Lega guardians a while granting King visitation rights a but King has appealed. Quot at some Point each Parent has to decide what is the Best thing for my child Quot said Peggy Stenbeck. Quot and How can that be to pull him out of the Only Home he Ever known Why ruin a Happy healthy childhood there absolutely no reason to do that. Especially when Mark and the birth Mother have always been Welcome to be part of this  for his part King asserts that he no longer uses drug has a steady factory Job and is willing to do whatever it takes to be a Good Parent. Michael he says should be raised by blood Kin. Quot millions of other single parents raise children Quot he has said. Quot who says i can t do it Quot for the past few years the number of birth fat her custody cases has increased Legal experts say. There Are no National figures kept on such lawsuits but Jane Gorman of the Academy of California adoption attorneys says about half of her 100 cases involve birth fathers. The increase of these cases is Quot an understandable and healthy consequence of the women movement and the request that fathers become More involved in the lives of their children Quot says Joan Holliger an adoption Law expert and visiting professor at the University of California at Berkeley. Including the Stenbeck there Are at least four such cases in California. Of the three that have been decided rulings tended toward granting greater custody rights for birth fathers. 1 that trend is alarming to some Legal experts and adoption advocates. Quot the rhetoric i m hearing in California is because i am the biological progenitor of this child i have a claim to this child that is Superior to anyone else Quot Hollinger says. Hollinger who also is part of a National Effort to uniformly update adoption Law claims the reasoning Quot goes Back to a totally outmoded Conception that a child is a piece of chattel that it can be possessed and owned Only by virtue of a biological . Orne of the four lawsuits a 1992 Case established Legal precedent by. Allowing the civil rights of biological fathers to supersede the Legal Standard of deciding in a child a Best interest. A a a the state supreme court in a sealed lawsuit involving a girl identified Only As Kelsey s., ruled that an unwed father objecting to adoption must come Forward As soon As he learns of the pregnancy and offer Quot a full. Commitment to his parental responsibilities a emotional financial and otherwise Quot to gain  new California adoption Law believed to be the first of its kind takes effect in 1995. Designed to avoid heart wrenching Legal Battles that drag on for years it requires biological parents to be counselled and informed of their rights before birth. It also requires consent forms to to signed within 120 Days of birth. Under existing Law in cases where there is no signed consent an adoption cannot be finalized for at least six months. A a a. But even the new Law sponsored by Republican state sen. Marian Bergeson does t specifically account for the rights of birth fathers. Another Bill that would clarify those rights has met with stiff opposition from groups including private adoption attorneys. It is estimated that 80 percent of All infant adoptions Are arranged privately. Such arrangements Are far less restrictive than Agency adoptions which often have ago income and ethnic requirements. Agencies terminate the rights of biological parents before taking the infant. In private adoptions consent forms Are signed after the child has gone Hoine with the adoptive parents. John and Peggy Stenbeck cuddle their adoptive sons . Left and Michael whose adoption is now being contested by Bis birth father