by John Kelly
In the modest offices of the Western Family Agency in Aston Park, a suburb ten kilometres west of Brisbane, one of the consultants, Julie Macleod, an attractive single woman, thirty two years of age, was on the phone. The Western Family Agency was funded privately, through the local church, and set up to undertake such noble tasks as family counselling, child health issues, social services for the elderly, and provide the local community with a variety of advice on access to government departments. It also conducted preliminary assessment work on adoption cases on behalf of the Department of Children's Services. Under the direction of the Agency manager Ross Davidson, a team of four consultants worked together. The senior consultant, Julie Macleod was working on an adoption assessment when the phone rang. It was Louise Whiltshire. Acting surprised and a little agitated, Julie spoke quietly into the phone. "You should not have called me here," she said softly. Louise was unapologetic. "That prospect I mentioned to you yesterday, I think you should make contact. She's ready to go ahead," Louise said. "What's her name?" Julie asked. As Julie took down Andrea Steedman's details, another consultant for the agency, Elizabeth Ashford had returned to her desk adjacent to Julie, with coffee for both of them. "Okay leave it with me," Julie said to Louise and quickly hung up. "Here's your coffee," Elizabeth said. "Thanks," Julie replied. "Another case query?" Elizabeth asked. "Umm, yes maybe," Julie answered, without thinking. Distracted by the call from Louise Whiltshire, Julie sipped her coffee, as Elizabeth returned to her own desk. Julie's mind was racing. An opportunity had come to make some money, an opportunity that might not come again. The illegality of the act she was considering was blurred by the lure of real money.
'Why not?' she thought. 'Who gets hurt? Nobody. Everybody gets what they want and no one needs to know. Why not?' Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the agency manager, Ross Davidson who called out from his office. "Julie can I see you for a moment?" Julie took another sip of her coffee, and disappeared into the manger's office. A few minutes later, she emerged with a piece of paper in hand and collected her briefcase. "I have to check on something for Ross," she said to Elizabeth. "I'll be back in half an hour." With that she left the building leaving her desk as it was.
Forty-five minutes later Julie telephoned Elizabeth. "Elizabeth, I'm going to be a while with this case Ross has given me."
"That's okay," Elizabeth said, "everything is fine here."
"I was about to call someone just before I left," Julie said. "Would you be a pet and do it for me? The details are in the file on my desk. Would you mind giving them a call and setting up an interview?" she asked. "Fine, yes I'll do that," Elizabeth replied. "Anytime in the next day or so," Julie said. Elizabeth hung up, took a quick sip of coffee, and checked Julie's rather messy desk. There was an unmarked file sitting there. On top of the file was the note containing the details Julie had written down about Andrea Steedman. Believing the note to be a part of the unmarked file, Elizabeth clipped the note to the outside of the file and sat down to call Andrea and arrange an interview.
Elizabeth was a fifty-three year old woman, recently divorced and living alone. A year earlier, her husband had run off with another woman twenty years her junior, and her two adult children were both married with young families of their own. It was partly for financial reasons that she found herself back in the workforce, but as a lively, energetic mother, she had also involved herself in community work. Suddenly finding herself alone in middle age, she felt a strong need to feel useful and productive. Her new position as consultant at the Western Family Agency was a godsend, and she was particularly keen to excel. She had been with the agency just four months, and, not in anyway unsure of herself, was keen to impress those around her with her efficient and diligent nature.
"Hello, my name is Elizabeth Ashford," she said to the person on the other end of the line. "I'm from the Western Family Agency. Your name has been passed onto us and I wonder if I could arrange an interview with you about your baby?" Thinking that the caller was responding to a referral from Louise Whiltshire, and that an interview was just that and nothing more, Andrea agreed. "Err, yes, um, you can come anytime I suppose." Andrea said tentatively. With a relatively light agenda on her plate, Elizabeth decided to arrange an interview and take on the case herself. After arranging a suitable time that afternoon, she completed a preliminary application form containing the information on the piece of paper she had clipped to the front of the file, and without looking at anything else, slipped the form inside the file. Half an hour later, Julie Macleod called Elizabeth again to say that she would be further delayed.
"Oh, by the way," Elizabeth said, "I've arranged an interview with that new case on your desk. I will be seeing her this afternoon. Is that okay?"
"Yes that's fine," Julie replied. "Did you see a note I left on my desk when you got the file?" Julie asked.
"Yes, I got that," Elizabeth replied.
"Could you put that note in my top draw for me?" Julie asked.
"Yes. What about the file?"
"No you keep the file. You have made the first approach. You can start it off. Just put that note in my top draw if you would."
After hanging up the phone, Elizabeth did as Julie asked, removing the note from the front of the file, and placing it in the top draw of Julie's desk.
That afternoon, as Elizabeth Ashford knocked on the front door of the flat where Andrea Steedman lived, she could hear a baby crying inside. Seconds later the door was opened by a young woman, still in her nightgown, holding a baby in one arm, and a bottle of mother's milk in the other.
"I'm Elizabeth Ashford from the agency," she said, "You're Andrea?"
"Yes, do come in. Sorry for the mess. I'm having a difficult morning."
Elizabeth knew instantly that Andrea was having a difficult time. Apart from the flat looking like a bombsite, it wasn't morning at all. The time was one thirty in the afternoon, and the woman she saw for the first time looked anxious, tired and appeared unable to cope.
"You certainly look as if your hands are full. And this is??" Elizabeth asked, looking down lovingly at the crying Mary Therese. "Oh, this is Mary. I was just trying to put her down for an afternoon nap. Would you excuse us for a minute? Just make yourself at home. I'll be back in a moment."
A few moments later, Mary Therese began to cry. It was not a whimper but a fully-fledged cry, suggesting to Elizabeth that Mary Therese did not want to be put down for an afternoon sleep. Andrea retreated from the nursery room and closed the door, determined that Mary would not get her way. "She does this every time I try to put her down. She takes a while to settle but eventually she'll go to sleep," Andrea said, with a faint tinge of uncertainty in her voice. "It's a difficult time for you isn't it," Elizabeth said, sensing Andrea's insecurity. "How have you been sleeping lately?" Elizabeth asked, noticing the dark shadows under her eyes. "Okay," she answered, and then added, "well, not very well actually. The baby won't sleep well during the day, so I sort of expect she will go out like a light at night, but I still have to get up to her at least three times every night." Elizabeth nodded thoughtfully. "Have you asked your doctor to give you something to help Mary sleep at night?" she asked. Andrea looked surprised. "No, I didn't think about that. Is there something I can give her?" Elizabeth looked surprised now. "Yes, there is. It's a very light sedative, nothing too strong but it will help her sleep and of course it will help you sleep too. You might think about that, the next time you see your doctor," she said.
As the two women spoke, they gradually became aware that Mary Therese had stopped crying, and that a serene calm had descended upon the flat. Andrea put the kettle on to make some tea, and the two women eventually sat down together to discuss the purpose of the visit. When Elizabeth asked Andrea why she was considering adoption, Andrea explained her circumstances. "I had no idea what it was going to be like. I was so excited at first and then after the baby was born things changed. I feel so isolated here. I am from Melbourne, and I came here to hide the pregnancy from my family.
My flat mate Louise has been wonderful, but I can't keep relying on her. I have to work and that frightens me. I would have to find someone to care for Mary all day."
"Don't you think your family would welcome you and the baby back, if they knew?" Elizabeth asked.
"No I couldn't. I just couldn't. I was adopted myself. I would be too ashamed. I would feel as if I had let them down terribly."
"Do you realize that there are some issues you will have to deal with down the track if you go ahead with the adoption?" Elizabeth said to her.
"What sort of issues?" Andrea asked.
"Personal issues," Elizabeth said. "I'm talking about issues that go to your emotional stability. There will be feelings of guilt, of failure, of desertion that can sometimes paralyse the mind. There will be difficult times for you," Elizabeth said. Andrea looked at her with a vacant expression. "I thought I was doing what was best for Mary. I'll be all right. I can go back home to Melbourne and start my life over again. I'll be all right, it's Mary I want to see settled into the right family." Elizabeth nodded thoughtfully, but not totally convinced that Andrea was as sure of herself as she thought. The discussion continued as Andrea prepared two cups of tea. "I'm afraid I only have dry biscuits to offer you. Would you like some?" she asked Elizabeth. "No, tea will be fine thanks, white and two."
Despite her reservations about Andrea's intentions, Elizabeth Ashford decided to proceed with some of the preliminary paperwork. She was unconvinced that adoption was the best outcome in this instance but felt she should at least appear to begin the process, if only to re-assure Andrea. Settling back into the comfortable armchair, she opened the file she had brought with her only to discover that the details inside pertained to another applicant. 'This is not Andrea Steedman's file,' she thought.
"Oh dear," she said without thinking. "Something's wrong here. It seems I have the wrong file." Andrea looked up surprised.
"What does that mean?" she asked a little concerned.
Elizabeth quickly recovered and said, "Not to worry. I have some blank application forms in my briefcase here. No problem." Elizabeth ruffled through her briefcase and, finding the necessary paperwork, continued the interview as if nothing had happened.
"We at the Western Family Agency don't handle adoptions as such," she said. "We simply do assessment work. The Department introduces you to some prospective parents for your baby, and then if you are happy to proceed, an application is filed with the Department of Children's Services for the Director's approval. Once that approval is obtained, the baby is handed over to the new parents."
"Where is that done?" Andrea asked.
"Oh right here, if you wish. The parents will come with a representative from the department, and the transfer will happen here."
"I'll know who the parents are won't I, their names and things like that?" Andrea asked.
"Yes, but," Elizabeth hesitated momentarily, "we don't think giving you too much information is good either for you or the baby, or the new parents either. It's best that if you are planning to go home that you return to Melbourne, and take up where you left off. After all that was your original plan wasn't it?"
"Yes," Andrea replied rather sheepishly, as both women heard the faint but unmistakable sound of Mary Therese starting to cry again. "I'd better check her," Andrea said getting up. "That's fine, I'll just finish off here," Elizabeth answered. A few moments later, Andrea returned.
After completing the preliminary documents, Elizabeth said, "Okay, well, I have enough information for now. What I'd like to do is take a photo of Mary Therese for our records. Would that be all right?"
"Yes if you wish. She's still awake. How long would all this take before new parents are found?" Andrea asked, now starting to accept some inevitability about the future.
"It is best that it happens quickly. But perhaps you might like to give it more thought before you decide. The department has approved couples just sitting by the phone waiting for a call, so when you say a definite yes, it will only be a matter of days I would think."
The suddenness of it shocked Andrea. "That quick?" she queried as she went toward the bedroom to bring Mary Therese out for the photo.
"Yes. It's best for the both of you that way. You are not left wondering. That would only cause you additional trauma, and the sooner Mary Therese is placed with her new parents, the better she will be in the long run." Elizabeth said, as she went with her.
"Oh yes I suppose so," Andrea replied vaguely. "Don't bother getting her out of the cot. I'll take the photo as she is." Elizabeth said.
While Elizabeth Ashford was interviewing Andrea, Julie Macleod returned to the office and immediately checked to see if Elizabeth had placed the note she had written containing Andrea Steedman's details in the top draw of her desk. It was there. Julie took the note and placed it in her handbag. She then left the office once more on the pretext of placing some money in the parking meter. Using the nearby public phone she called Louise Whiltshire.
"This prospect you have given me," she said to Louise, "how sure are you that she is willing?" Julie spoke quickly as if time was running out. "She's willing. She's my flat mate and at her wits' end. She came here from Melbourne to have the baby so her family wouldn't know. She wants to go back as soon as possible," Louise told her.
"I have a couple who don't want to wait, Julie said. "They are prepared to pay so long as everything is straight forward and done quickly," Julie said. "They live in Cairns, which is good for us," she continued. "I'm sure they would be willing to come down tonight and see the baby tomorrow. If they say yes, it will have to be done in the next couple of days. Is Andrea prepared for that?"
"I think she is. Yes! Bring them down. I'll spend time with Andrea tonight and see to it that she is ready to see them tomorrow."
"Okay, then lets do it." Julie said with determination and single-mindedness.
Not far away, Elizabeth Ashford was finalizing her meeting with Andrea. "She's such a darling little baby isn't she," Elizabeth said. "I have two grown children of my own and you know something?" she said as Andrea walked her to the door. "What's that?" she asked. Elizabeth turned to her and said, "I wouldn't trade the time I had with my children for anything." Andrea felt a tinge of guilt, unable to answer. There was a part of her that knew Elizabeth was trying to help her reconsider. At the same time her longing to return home and resume her normal life overshadowed the alternative. As Elizabeth said goodbye, she touched Andrea gently on the arm and said, "Don't worry, everything will turn out for the best. I'll be in touch soon."
4.