Woody Allen is a creep

[A*O]

Woody's relationship with Soon-Yi, on the other hand, is a whole separate ballgame. It wasn't illegal that he married her, but the fact that he doesn't seem to understand why it upset so many people is bizarre. The fact that it happened at all speaks for itself .

Like most pedophiles he genuinely doesn't see anything wrong or inappropriate about having a sexual relationship with a young girl. In fact he sees it as a "pure" form of love and can't understand why people would disapprove. The fact she's also his step daughter is irrelevant to him, as is any moral or legal aspect to the whole mess.

If this, and his interaction with the other young girls in the family had been properly investigated - or Mia fucking Farrow had reported it when she should have - he'd have been Bubba's Bitch in jail by now. But no, he's a famous movie director so he gets a pass.

[CornFlakegrl]

I'm doubtful Woody would have ever been Bubba's bitch even if Mia had reported things earlier. He's too smart, wealthy and powerful to go down like that unless someone got it on tape.

I agree with those of you who said celebs have an easier time adopting. The adoption community is not immune to being star struck or having their palms greased. If they are in fact, immune, let's hope they are the next jury to deal with Lohan. There might finally be some consequences for that mess.

[sluce]

Disagree. I've seen first hand the hoops that people have to jump through (and fail anyway) to adopt just one child, let alone several children like Farrow and Jolie and Madonna and others have done apparently without any difficulty whatsoever. And these "ordinary" people often have to wait for years and years for the process to happen. Celebs just pick up the phone and Dial A Baby. It boils down to $$$$$. In any event, even if the celebs are subjected to the usual due diligence to assess their suitability as parents the well publicised track record of flake like Farrow or a junkie like Jolie as well as the confidential medical, psychological, social investigations should prevent them from adopting a goldfish, let alone a baby.

Well gee, I wouldn't know anything about that from the 20 years I have been involved in adoption professionally. I'm sure you're right.

[sluce]

I agree with those of you who said celebs have an easier time adopting. The adoption community is not immune to being star struck or having their palms greased. If they are in fact, immune, let's hope they are the next jury to deal with Lohan. There might finally be some consequences for that mess.

I have personally seen several celebs turned down by agencies. They then get an attorney and adopt privately.

[olivia]

I haven't personally tried to adopt, but this has been closer to the experiences I've witnessed happen with other people. Maybe things are different now, but if Angelina Jolie were Angie Voight, a young woman with a history of mental illness and drug abuse (by her own admission), I don't think she would have been able to amass her child army as easily as she did.

It's probably not an accident that most of the super-adopters go overseas to get their kids. Madonna sure fucked up in Malawi, made tons of promises to the country she never intended on keeping. How is Jolie's charity mission in Cambodia going?

The only multiple adopters I can think of who have US American kids are Rosie O'Donnell and Mariska Hargitay.

[Waterslide]

Like most pedophiles he genuinely doesn't see anything wrong or inappropriate about having a sexual relationship with a young girl. In fact he sees it as a "pure" form of love and can't understand why people would disapprove. The fact she's also his step daughter is irrelevant to him, as is any moral or legal aspect to the whole mess.

If this, and his interaction with the other young girls in the family had been properly investigated - or Mia fucking Farrow had reported it when she should have - he'd have been Bubba's Bitch in jail by now. But no, he's a famous movie director so he gets a pass.

Agree about the pedophiles/ephebophiles/etc. I could write a book on why I have problems with the Soon-Yi issue. Not that it's worse than what he allegedly did to Dylan, but it's still not right. Mia might be a nutcase, but I think he takes the prize for sick bastard. I also had a problem with the strangeness about Mia not reporting it when she should have. It's pathetic because I can't even imagine him in jail. I think I might have said it before in this thread, but I think that certain celebrities get away with a lot of shit because of their money or their fame, but it's also because it's still a fucking boy's club, too.

I have personally seen several celebs turned down by agencies. They then get an attorney and adopt privately.

I honestly am glad to hear that celebrities do get turned down, especially if they're not meeting whatever criteria is expected of them. I think the issue that is confusing me is that I thought going through an attorney and adopting privately is usually very expensive and maybe not an option for everyday folk? I know it's common to do that, but I always got the impression that while other people can afford to give a kid a good home, they don't have the money to go through a private channel. My impression is that if a celeb (not all of them, obviously) gets turned down, they just throw money at the problem and they get a baby.

It's probably not an accident that most of the super-adopters go overseas to get their kids. Madonna sure fucked up in Malawi, made tons of promises to the country she never intended on keeping. How is Jolie's charity mission in Cambodia going?

The only multiple adopters I can think of who have US American kids are Rosie O'Donnell and Mariska Hargitay.

I think having tons of disposable income certainly helps when adopting and going oversees helps as well. I thought I had read some countries have supposedly upped their standards to who they adopt to, but it still seems to me that money talks.

[A*O]

Well gee, I wouldn't know anything about that from the 20 years I have been involved in adoption professionally. I'm sure you're right.

Oh behave. You know the point I'm making, in fact you make it yourself about wealthy people being able to avoid the usual adoption checks and procedures. But whether kids are adopted via the usual channels or privately it shocks me that once the paperwork is signed there is no apparent safety net in place to ensure the children are being cared for properly. Bio parents are answerable to the authorities so I (wrongly?) assumed adoptive parents were as well. Pax.

[sluce]

^ Adoptive parents are exactly the same as bio parents once the adoption is finalized. Before finalization there are home visits, usually 2-3 within 6 months. After that they are held to same standards as a bio parent. Also I have never said that wealthy people get special priviledges with adoption. Anyone who adopts privately can avoid the standards set by agencies but are held to the same standards set by their state for finalization.

I honestly am glad to hear that celebrities do get turned down, especially if they're not meeting whatever criteria is expected of them. I think the issue that is confusing me is that I thought going through an attorney and adopting privately is usually very expensive and maybe not an option for everyday folk? I know it's common to do that, but I always got the impression that while other people can afford to give a kid a good home, they don't have the money to go through a private channel. My impression is that if a celeb (not all of them, obviously) gets turned down, they just throw money at the problem and they get a baby.

Agencies set their own policies and standards. Most have an age cut off, financial requirements, etc. They set a fee to adopt through them that includes the medical costs for the birthmother and baby, overhead (including rent, salaries, etc). Private agencies cost well over 25k to adopt. State agencies and religious agencies are less expensive but place very few children so most turn to private agencies.

Agencies normally require counselling for birth and adoptive families, medical records, financial records and so on. People who will not meet the requirements then turn to attornies who handle private placements. They usually require no counselling. They collect a fee to cover expenses like an agency does. For every type of adoption the fees are submitted to the court. Are there pay offs, yes I am sure there are "donations" just as there are in many foreign placements.

All adoptions, international, public agency, private agency or private attorney, require a home study for the adoption to be finalized. Some of you seem to think a home study is a process that delves deep into peoples lives. You may want to do some research. It is not difficult to pass a home study. I can tell you that Angelina passed her home study all 3 times and had all proper paperwork for each placement. She has only adopted 3 times which is far from serial adopting. I have seen many families here in the US adopt more than 3 domestically.

Each state sets their own requirements of what is required to adopt and whether or not they allow private adoption. I prefer agency placements since everyone involved gets counselling. Placements with counselling have far fewer disruptions with the baby then being returned to the biological family because they have a much better expectation going in and have more support.

[Trixie]

According the the Vanity Fair article, Woody's adoption of the two kids was a bit...unusual.

One of the great ironies of this story is that Woody Allen, by virtue of his vaunted reputation, was able to adopt Dylan and Moses, who had already been legally adopted by Mia in 1985 and 1978, respectively. Never before in New York, it seems, had two single people separately adopted the same children—unmarried couples have not been able to adopt at all—and in fact, had the case been taken to family court, the usual venue for adoptions, such an exception would probably not have been allowed. But their lawyer Paul Martin Weltz put the adoption of Dylan and Moses before Judge Renee Roth in the surrogate court in Manhattan. “Surrogate court is less hectic. I felt the two judges there were both very humane and forward-looking,” says Weltz. “In family court you never know who you’re going to get. I didn’t want some clerk to say, ‘The statute doesn’t permit it. Go away.’ ” But, adds Weltz, “to have a second parent of the intellectual ability and the financial ability of a Woody Allen—how could anybody at that point think of a single negative?”

Given the status of the father, the home study was waived, and the court presumably knew nothing about Woody’s sessions with Dr. Coates. “You have a home visit when you’re thinking maybe these people can’t afford another child. Here there was no issue of morality or finances,” Weltz says. “Woody had told me that he used to go over to Mia’s apartment every day and be there when the children woke up. He’d see them every day in the middle of the day. He’d be there when they went to bed. On the surface it seemed that he was more of a father than a lot of natural fathers I represent.” Weltz recalls December 17, the day Woody, Mia, and the children accompanied him to the courtroom (where Woody remembered he had once shot a scene) and the judge’s chambers, as being “probably the happiest day I’ve ever spent in court.”

[sluce]

Woody and Mia's case is odd and rare. It is viewed more as a step-parent adoption that carries a whole different set of rules.

[Waterslide]

^ Adoptive parents are exactly the same as bio parents once the adoption is finalized. Before finalization there are home visits, usually 2-3 within 6 months. After that they are held to same standards as a bio parent. Also I have never said that wealthy people get special priviledges with adoption. Anyone who adopts privately can avoid the standards set by agencies but are held to the same standards set by their state for finalization.



Agencies set their own policies and standards. Most have an age cut off, financial requirements, etc. They set a fee to adopt through them that includes the medical costs for the birthmother and baby, overhead (including rent, salaries, etc). Private agencies cost well over 25k to adopt. State agencies and religious agencies are less expensive but place very few children so most turn to private agencies.

Agencies normally require counselling for birth and adoptive families, medical records, financial records and so on. People who will not meet the requirements then turn to attornies who handle private placements. They usually require no counselling. They collect a fee to cover expenses like an agency does. For every type of adoption the fees are submitted to the court. Are there pay offs, yes I am sure there are "donations" just as there are in many foreign placements.

All adoptions, international, public agency, private agency or private attorney, require a home study for the adoption to be finalized. Some of you seem to think a home study is a process that delves deep into peoples lives. You may want to do some research. It is not difficult to pass a home study. I can tell you that Angelina passed her home study all 3 times and had all proper paperwork for each placement. She has only adopted 3 times which is far from serial adopting. I have seen many families here in the US adopt more than 3 domestically.

Each state sets their own requirements of what is required to adopt and whether or not they allow private adoption. I prefer agency placements since everyone involved gets counselling. Placements with counselling have far fewer disruptions with the baby then being returned to the biological family because they have a much better expectation going in and have more support.

Thank you for the info, sluce! I think for me I mainly associate the payoffs and some private adoptions with celebrities because they're very wealthy, not necessarily because they're famous. I had a friend who gave up her babies to a couple through private adoption and as far as I know it all turned out well, so it's not every private adoption that I think is purposely trying to get around rules, etc., it's just that I got the feeling that the process can be made easier with payoffs.

I understand what you're saying about the home studies not being very in depth. I had known someone (not that well though) who had a hard time adopting because she had been diagnosed with depression, but maybe there was more to it, or the agency she was going through had stricter standards. If the home studies aren't that in depth like you're saying, I'd imagine a lot of nutters could possibly get through. I'd agree that the agency adoptions with counseling is better for all involved.

[sluce]

^Just as a lot of nutters give birth and parent.

[Waterslide]

Well, yeah, that too!

[FashionVictim]

I think Mia is nutty, but I also think that pedophile beat her down emotionally and made her feel like she couldnt win.

I didn't know about Sinatra offering her help and money. Interesting.

Is Satchel the kid who is a genius?

[McJag]

I think Mia is nutty, but I also think that pedophile beat her down emotionally and made her feel like she couldnt win.

I didn't know about Sinatra offering her help and money. Interesting.

Is Satchel the kid who is a genius?

At least he was smart enough to change his name!