Lawyer and His Wife Explain Why They Gave Up Their Adopted Daughter

Family Law

Lawyer and His Wife Explain Why They Gave Up Their Adopted Daughter

September 21, 2010, 3:48 pm CDT

Chicago-area lawyer Craig Gertz and his wife, Lori, are going public about their painful decision to give up an adopted child whose mental health issues were so severe they feared their family was at risk.

They hope their story will raise awareness and lead to more resources for children with mental illness, the Chicago Tribune reports. According to the story, “There’s little support available for emotionally damaged children—even for families like the Gertzes, with money and connections.”

The Gertzes learned after they adopted Ellie that her birth mother, who later committed suicide, had used PCP and crack cocaine. The problems began right away. “Almost from the beginning, Ellie could not be soothed, sometimes screaming for hours, nonstop,” the story says. Later, telling the child “no” would send Ellie into an uncontrollable rage.

Once she pushed a pregnant Lori down the stairs. She frequently hit her little sister, Talia. She went through eight nannies. She reported that Lori was beating her, creating fears that the family would lose all their children. (The authorities found no reason for an investigation.) One psychologist warned Ellie might kill herself or harm someone else. The Gertzes were spending about $40,000 for psychiatric care, but they couldn’t afford $100,000 a year for the recommended residential placement.

Ellie now lives with another family trained in dealing with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder under a third-party guardianship arrangement, the story says. At the end of the year, both families will decide whether the new family should adopt Ellie.

The Tribune does not identify Craig Gertz’s employer, but a LinkedIn profile says he is a partner at Daspin & Aument and a former partner at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal.