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Trumbull Adoption Day joins 3 more kids with new families
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
For people who grew up with their birth parents, it’s hard to imagine being adopted.
But to Don Beauchene, who along with his wife, Michelle, adopted Lucianna on Friday during Trumbull County Adoption Day at the courthouse, there’s no difference between his adopted and biological children.
“They became every bit as much a part of your life as what came before,” he said.
Lucianna, almost 2, is the second of two siblings the Beauchenes have adopted. The other is Lilliana, 4.
The Beauchenes are also in the midst of a construction project at their home in Trumbull County with the help of several agencies, business people and donors so they can eventually adopt two more of Lucianna and Lilliana’s siblings next year.
The other two are Jamie, 6, the girl who received a kidney transplant in 2015 with the help of donor David Denovchek of Niles and Trumbull County Children Services; and Jamie’s brother, Jeremiah, 8.
The Beauchenes are a “blended family” that now has eight children, some grown.
“It’s not something we ever planned, but I wouldn’t change it,” Don said Friday of adoption.
The Beauchenes dressed Lucianna in a top Friday that says “Officially a Beauchene 11-3-17.”
Single mom Leah Marsh of Warren, who adopted Annaliese on Friday, said Annaliese “fit in” with Leah’s family the first day Leah brought her home.
“I remember the day they called me and I picked her up,” Leah said. “We bonded before we left the parking lot.”
Marsh said she had worked through private adoption agencies for 10 years before her experience with Trumbull County Children Services.
“When you see her smile, you forget about every obstacle you’ve faced,” Marsh said. Annaliese, who is nearly 2, smiled throughout her adoption hearing Friday.
Presiding over the hearings was Trumbull County Probate Judge James Fredericka. An employee of Children Services spoke on behalf of all three adoptions before the judge approved them.
Jaden Reinard, 12, who was adopted Friday by Logan and Tracy Reinard of Cortland, also smiled throughout her adoption hearing.
“Jaden has been in foster care four years, and we’ve had her 11/2 years,” Logan said after the hearing. “We knew we wanted to adopt her, so for it all to come together is really exciting.”
Tim Schaffner, CSB executive director, said there are 31 children in CSB custody right now, with 20 of them matched with adoptive parents and 11 others who still need adoptive homes.