Sacramento County Department of Health & Human Services v. Shannon S.

Appellants Shannon S. (mother) and Kenneth S. (father) appeal from the juvenile court’s order terminating their parental rights to T.S. and K.S. (the minors). (Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 366.26, 395; further section references are to this code.) Two claims of error are raised on appeal.

First, both appellants challenge the juvenile court’s finding that the minors were adoptable. The finding was based in part upon the fact the paternal grandparents of the minors wanted to adopt them. According to appellants, this fact does not support the finding of adoptability because the grandparents were of “older” age and had not yet taken physical examinations to establish that they were fit enough to parent the minors. In appellants’ view, “an actual physical to assess [the grandparents’] health [was] absolutely necessary” to “qualify them as adoptive parents”; otherwise, the grandparents’ older age was a “legal impediment” to adoption.

We must confess to being a bit chagrined when we learned of the ages of these “older” grandparents—58 and 61. After all, one of us is 62, another 57, and the “new kid on our block,” so to speak, is not that far behind. Until now, we have been indulging…