Judge Bayly For Family Court
This is going to get personal for a minute, if it’s okay with you.
Fourteen years ago my husband and I got married and I really wanted babies. Like really, really wanted babies. And I thought it would just happen because I wanted it to. When it didn’t happen and continued not happening, my husband and I decided to become foster parents. It was something we wanted to do anyway, but we adjusted our timeline.
When I walked into our first foster parent training, a very pregnant woman was at the front of the room. If you’ve ever had fertility problems of any kind, you might understand how hard this was. Here I was, fostering because I thought I might never have biological children. Then she started talking and I never wanted her to stop.
She also had fertility issues and became a foster parent instead of pursuing any kind of treatment. She had stories about lice, and dirt, and wet mattresses and when she spoke it was with passion and conviction. She said they weren’t foster kids, they were kids who happened to be in foster care (language I adopted, which seriously confused some medical receptionists – “wait, your kids are in foster care??”). When for the hundredth time someone asked why kids would want to go back to their biological parents she gently said, “because they are their parents.”
She got the whole thing. She got kids in care and the struggles they faced. She got biological parents and the trials they went through. She got foster parents and the fears that they carried. She saw it from every angle.
I’ve never lived in her home but from the outside looking in it seems family is defined more by who needs one than any kind of standard biological relationship.
Later on she went to law school to advocate for children in care. She worked for the DA’s Office in law school and then in the County Law Department Children’s Services Unit. She continued to serve as a foster parent and has been one for 19 years caring for over 80 children.
She recently announced that she’s running for Monroe Count Family Court Judge. I could not imagine someone more qualified. I’ve never known anyone who pursued a passion of theirs with as much focus and conviction. She cares about kids and she cares about families. While I never want this to be a political place, I’m making this exception because she’s simply extraordinary. Judge Bayly for Family Court!
