The day Russell and Ellie Handler adopted infant David they declared was the best day of their lives.

“We were so excited. He was our miracle,” said Ellie. “He is such a joy.”

When the Handlers discovered that they were unable to conceive, they decided to adopt and underwent an extensive Maine Adoption Placement Service (MAPS) Adoption Home Study. On April 26, 1999, the study concluded that the Handlers were prime candidates for adopting.

The MAPS review uses State Police background checks, health records, financial reviews, and interviews the applicants and requires letters of recommendation. Three very favorable letters of reference were received by MAPS. Comments included the following:

“For concern and caring, these two can’t be beat.”

“This couple has the financial and emotional stability to manage a family. They are richly blessed with charitable hearts, which enable them to move through the world, sharing their words of encouragement, their support to others, as well as their abundance of love.”

MAPS is licensed by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

MAPS concluded that, “They have been married for nearly 12 years and have established a stable, loving relationship and life style. They have the support of their friends and family, and would readily seek help outside this circle if they needed to … Their home is beautiful and has more than enough space for a large family, and their financial resources are more than adequate, as well. I believe Ellie and Russ will be dedicated, loving parents and it is my recommendation that they be approved to adopt a male or female Caucasian infant, twins, or triplets.”

By all accounts, the Handlers were wonderful parents. They gave David opportunities that most children don’t get to experience, like flying an airplane, horseback ridding, and attending cultural events. Most importantly, they gave him their unconditional love.

“David started horseback riding lessons at about three years of age at a local riding facility in Belfast, which excelled in teaching very young children, not only how to ride, but to care for horses by brushing them and cleaning their hoofs and feeding and watering them,” said Ellie. “Russell introduced David to flying at about four years old. Russell even had a special FAA approved booster seat, which was made for smaller adults, and the instructor was FAA certified. Russell used the gauges on the plane to have David practice his numbers.”

David went everywhere with the Handlers. He will always have those memories. New studies confirm that the most important years for a child’s cognitive development are the years he spent with Ellie and Russell. Those formative years are a permanent imprint locked within his memory.

Before DHHS took David into custody, the Handlers had already undergone an incredibly emotional time. It ended up being a time that bonded them closer together than they could have ever imagined.

In 2000, Russell was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and subsequently had surgery, which removed the lymph nodes in his neck and shoulders. He has not had any muscle mass in his chest and shoulders since then.

His cancer was life threatening.

Russell explained, “I saw Dr. Sessions, and I asked him what my odds were. ‘One in 100? One in 500?’ There was no answer. ‘One in 10,000?’ ‘Could be,’ he said. He told me to get my affairs in order and said, ‘There’s a possibility we’ll kill you before the cancer will.’”

In a Village Soup article, Jay Davis wrote that Ellie moved into Russell’s hospital room to be close to him, for twelve days.

In the same Village Soup article, Davis also wrote, “Handler is the first to say he has not fought cancer alone. Ellie and David ‘are two of the reasons I’m alive.’ When we first met he showed me scores of photographs of birthdays and open houses with David front and center in most of them. He is clearly proud of and grateful to his wife.”

Since his surgery, Russell has to insert a tube to a connection in his stomach and use a syringe to plunge the liquid food into his stomach. Because of his condition, he cannot stand in one position for more than five minutes. The inability to eat solid foods has left Russell chronically anemic and subject to aspiration pneumonia.

In 2005 when DHHS alleged Russell abused Ellie, he was still a physically impaired individual. To this day, he is semi-paralyzed on one side.

Ellie’s medical reports clearly show that while in the hospital she understood that she was not stable and that she believed that David’s father should be the one caring for their son. Ellie’s hospital record states, “Her adopted son who has some neurocognitive issues has increasingly been struggling with behavioral issues. In that context according to Dr. Handler, she does not manage that skillfully; and apparently a consultant has advised that the child’s behavior would stabilize if she [Dr. Handler] were out of the home.”

In the hospital’s discharge summary, Ellie was diagnosed with depression, PTSD, borderline personality disorder, and post radiation symptoms from chemo and surgery. A month later DHHS was called to the Handlers’ home.

All during this time Russell was dedicated to Ellie, to help her through her mental crisis and cancer. As Ellie had stood by Russell when he had cancer, Russell stood by her. They had already triumphed over one life-threatening situation. If DHHS had admitted that the agency had made a mistake in misunderstanding Ellie’s mental disability, it’s extremely likely that the Handlers would be a strong, united family today.

Instead DHHS broke the Handler family apart.