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Warren family’s seventh adoption continues its international flavor
Judge Thomas Swift presides over adoption proceedings
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
The attorney who has helped the Rev. Rodd and Lori Meyer of Warren adopt six of their seven children through Trumbull County Probate Court and Trumbull County Children Services calls them the “family of the United Nations.”
The reason is that Rodd and Lori adopted their first child, Fernando, 10 years ago, from El Salvador, then adopted two mixed-race children and two Caucasian children, then on Monday a black child and another Caucasian child.
Their adoptions of Johnathan, 2, and Deon, 3, on Monday were part of the annual National Adoption Day
celebration at the Trumbull County Courthouse. In all, three families adopted five children during the event, the final one for retiring Probate Judge Thomas A. Swift. Judge Swift has presided over the adoption of 5,000 children during his 35 years as probate judge.
“They are wonderful. They love children,” said Atty. Teresa Rice Daugherty of Rodd and Lori, a stay-at-home mother who homeschools their children. “A lot of people get unnerved by active children, but they thrive on it. They love it. They do a lot with their children,” she said.
One of the beautiful things about the Meyer family is that race is irrelevant, Rice Daugherty said. “Love is love. There is no color to it, no ethnicity, and they embody that,” she said.
“The Meyerses have a beautiful family that they are continuing to grow through adoption,” said Mary Jane Bequeath, an adoption worker at children services.
“We like to see the heads turn when we take our kids out to eat — and we do take them out to eat,” Rodd Meyers said. “It’s kind of our joke that we have our own International House of Pancakes,” he said of the family’s varying cultures.
One of the other families that formalized the adoption of their children was that of Doug and Mary Ann Noland of Niles, who adopted sons Troy, 12, and Dominic, 9, siblings who have lived with the Noland family as foster children for nearly two years.
The couple also has a biological son, Nathan, 11, who was given a voice in whether Troy and Dominic would become a permanent part of the family, Doug said.
“They all get along very well,” Doug said. “They argue like natural brothers,” he said. The Nolands also have two other foster children at their home and are fortunate to have help from Mary Anne’s mother, Mabel.
“It’s sometimes frustrating, but at the end of the day, it’s rewarding to know you’ve made a difference in a child’s life,” Doug said.
John and Amanda Dutting of Girard adopted 1-year-old Abby but became her foster parents shortly after she was born. The couple has served as foster parents for several children over the past three years — an experience John says can produce “the highest highs and the lowest lows.” The lows can come when a child returns to their biological family, he said.
“It’s amazing to be able to care for children and give them the best care we can give them,” he said. The couple wanted to adopt from the start but had to be patient.
“It took almost two years, but it’s been worth every minute,” he said.