Carolyn Twietmeyer Fights to Reduce Limits on Adoptions

Carolyn Twietmeyer is a Joliet mother of 14 and she wants to adopt more. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) has no numerical limit on the number of children someone can adopt, but its rules are making it difficult for Twietmeyer to adopt, reports the Chicago Tribune.

Now Twietmeyer has taken her fight to Washington D.C., urging Illinois lawmakers to allow large families like hers to more easily adopt -- especially children from third-world countries and those children with special needs.

At a White House event, Twietmeyer addressed the international crisis that has left 143 million children without parents in countries decimated by HIV, reports the Tribune.

She also addressed the local problem that makes it difficult for her to help these children. Particularly, the DCFS rules that require the agency to issue foster care licenses to parents adopting from countries like Uganda and the Philippines, grant a waiver for families with eight or more children to adopt more children, and limit adopting children with special needs, reports the Tribune.

While none of these rules bans a large family like Twietmeyer's from adopting more, these rules do make it more difficult. And Twietmeyer finds that ridiculous, arguing that large families like hers are best equipped to adopt more children.

It's unclear if Carolyn Twietmeyer's fight to adopt more children will end in success. However, her fight has brought to light some more arcane rules on Illinois adoptions. Some of these rules may disadvantage children from certain countries and children with certain disabilities. The DCFS should review these rules to determine if they are still necessary.

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