In 2018, Jill and Adam Trower learned about a 2-month-old child living in an orphanage in Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The adoption agency told them that he had been found by a stranger, abandoned and wearing only a diaper.
They named him Luke.
鈥淲e heard about his incredible story of survival,鈥� Adam Trower recalled on Wednesday's St. Louis on the Air. 鈥淚 think, instantly, both of us felt a connection, and felt like it was something that we should do.鈥�
But four years later, Luke is still living in the orphanage. Outside of video calls, photos and translated messages passed through an orphanage worker, he and his adoptive parents from Pike County, Missouri, have never met. Even so, Jill Trower said that she had a feeling the moment she saw him: 鈥淗e was just so full of life. And you could just tell that he was a fighter.鈥�
She added, 鈥淲e're just ready for him to be home with us.鈥�
The obstacles between Luke and the Trowers go beyond the 7,000 miles that physically separate them. A morass of legal complications has halted the family鈥檚 adoption efforts, even though, as the Trowers鈥� attorney David Gearhart pointed out on Wednesday's show, both the U.S. and DRC governments signed off on Luke鈥檚 adoption in 2019.
鈥淭here's two main stages to the international adoption process. One is a suitability determination made by our government about the family. Are they a good family to adopt this child? And the Trowers easily passed that,鈥� Gearhart explained. 鈥淭he second stage is to determine whether or not the child is actually an orphan, to make sure that they weren't bought or that there wasn't corruption in the child being turned over to an American family.鈥�
It was in the second stage that problems arose, first with the investigation into Luke鈥檚 circumstances, and then with unexplained delays that dragged from months to years. Eventually, the Trowers turned to the courts to force a resolution that would bring Luke home.
Filed in 2020, their federal lawsuit named top U.S. immigration officials and the Department of State. They argued that Luke鈥檚 adoption had been approved by both countries鈥� governments and should proceed. In response, the U.S. presented an argument that focused on a DRC policy change in 2016 鈥� three years before the Trowers鈥� adoption was seemingly approved 鈥� that banned international adoptions.
Through their attorneys, the Trowers argued back that the U.S. and DRC governments had approved multiple adoptions, including Luke鈥檚, during the same time period.
But the U.S. government has stuck to its position. In a May 19 motion to dismiss the Trowers鈥� lawsuit, the government argued: 鈥淲hatever may have transpired between 2016 and 2019, it is clear today that the DRC鈥檚 position is that intercountry adoptions are illegal under its laws 鈥� and prior mistakes or efforts to ignore DRC law, as chronicled [by the Trowers], do not beget further efforts to nullify sovereign authority.鈥�
During Wednesday鈥檚 show, Gearhart disputed the U.S. government鈥檚 description of the DRC rule change around adoptions. He maintains that Luke鈥檚 adoption remains approved by the Congolese legal system and that should be enough for the U.S. government.
Adam Trower acknowledged that he and Jill knew pursuing an international adoption wouldn鈥檛 be easy, or fast. But they never imagined it would turn out like this.
鈥淲e went into this process thinking that the real challenge would be on the international side, that we would have trouble with the courts there,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e never anticipated that our government would be actively working against us.鈥�
鈥�鈥� brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is hosted by and produced by , , and . Avery Rogers is our production assistant. The audio engineer is .
