Kelvin O’Reilly was a self made multi billionaire though virtually none were aware of his wealth for he didn’t have an opulent lifestyle, drove a thirty-five year old diesel Mercedes 300 because he liked it and was a self professed family man. Ruth was Kelvin’s sixth foster child and he was trying to adopt her.

Kelvin was not, as many suspected, gay, but he’d never married, for most of the women he’d met were gazetted gold diggers who instinctively recognised that he was worthy of their attentions. He’d suspected there would have been a lot more of them had they known just how wealthy he was. At the age of thirty seven he’d given up on women, but not on a family, hence his adopted children. He had three sons and two daughters and had been looking for a third daughter for some time. Ruth who was highly intelligent and trans had entered his heart on their first meeting. He’d had a deal of problems with Social Services and ended up fighting for the right to adopt twelve year old Ruth in court. The magistrates agreed he was a perfect adopting father, but wanted to know why he specifically wished to adopt a trans daughter. “I don’t,” he’d replied. “That’s just the way Social Services want to see the matter. I specifically wish to adopt Ruth, trans or otherwise. During the time we have spent together exploring possibilities I have come to love Ruth as I love all my other children. The children have all become close.”

Ruth was quiet when questioned, but said, “Dad is the only foster parent I’ve ever had who has treated me properly once they found out I am trans, all the others, and there must have been a dozen of them at least, hurt me and eventually returned me to the orphanage. I call him Dad like the others do, and it’s nice to belong somewhere, for I never did before. I feel safe and secure with him because he loves me and I love him. Till going to live with him I had a grim time in foster homes, and I’d rather live in the orphanage than risk another foster home, though that is not a good place for someone like me either. I’ll probably run away and live on the streets if either of those eventualities happens. I don’t understand why I can’t live with Dad and my brothers and sisters who I love and who love me? He wants to adopt me, and I want to be adopted by him. I’ve been fostered by him for over a year now, so I don’t see why the social workers who are supposed to act in the best interests of children have a problem with it. I’m twelve nearly thirteen, not a baby, and I’m capable of making an informed decision. I believe that’s the appropriate term.

“Acting in the best interests of children is what Social Services are paid to do, so they are clearly taking money under false pretences, for they are not doing their job. Most of them can’t even spell the word kind, and they all call me by a boy’s name I have never used. Only others have ever used it. They say I was born a boy which means nothing to me. I don’t even have early, hazy memories of being a boy. All my memories are of being a girl and of being shouted at, beaten and deprived of food and sleep for being a girl. It’s not my fault that I’m a girl, but none of that unkindness has ever happened to me since I went as a foster child to live with Dad. There I am called by my name which is Ruth, and Dad has said as soon as he becomes my legal father he is going to have my name changed and take me to see doctors who understand about transness. The social workers have done nothing to help me. None of them have ever spoken about medical help, and now they are following a course of action that will deny me the help I, and more to the point they, know I am legally entitled to receive.”

One of the magistrates said, “I have read the documentation provided by Social Services closely, as well of course as that provided by Mr. O’Reilly’s solicitors. It is true what Ruth has told us, there is only mention of the medical help she is legally entitled to in Mr. O’Reilly’s documentation. That to me speaks volumes concerning the difference in the levels of care provided by Social Services and that provided by Mr. O’Reilly.” The solicitor representing Social Services objected to the magistrate referring to Ruth by the name Ruth rather than her dead name and also to her use of the word she rather than he. The reply he got was terse, “However the child is addressed from the bench does not change anything for the moment. It seems to me to be a matter of courtesy to use the name and pronouns she identifies with, and indeed though normally it is considered that a child is capable of making informed decisions once they reach the age of fourteen that is only a guideline and it is clear that Ruth is capable now. That you have objected is a matter of great concern to me, for if that represents the views of the social workers involved in this case you have effectively undermined all your arguments and handed Ruth over to her father as no longer his foster daughter but his adopted daughter. I shall confer with my colleagues and we shall make our decision known as soon as we can.”

She stood ready to go into the magistrates chambers for the discussion, but her two colleagues whispered to her and she sat down again. “It would appear that we are all already agreed. Ruth O’Reilly, your documents of adoption will be available from the clerk to the court’s office in a few minutes in the name of Ruth O’Reilly. Mr O’Reilly, we wish you and all your family especially Ruth well and trust you will be happy. We also agree your request that Social Services are given access to neither your house nor your children under the conditions you have requested to be reasonable and we so order it. Again the order will be available from the clerk’s office in a few minutes. We wish to see the social workers involved with their legal counsel in our chambers immediately concerning both this case and future child welfare cases.”

Kelvin’s request that Social Services were prevented from access to his house and all his children was to prevent their officious harassment of his children which they’d experienced in the past. He’d provided documentary proof of past events, both in writing and copies of CCTV footage. All he wanted, his solicitor had explained in writing, was freedom from their interference which caused his children unnecessary stress, for despite their adoptions they were frightened that Social Services would one day remove them from his care. He didn’t want special rights, just the same rights that any other parent had with the children that they had fathered or given birth to without any Social Services’ involvement. He further said that if it ever came to Social Services attention that he was not a good parent to the extent that they should step in he was fine with that, but it was only reasonable that they should have to furnish a court with evidence of such behaviour on his part first. Social Services didn’t like it, but the magistrates considered his stance to be reasonable.

Whilst a foster child Ruth had attended the local state school. [US public school] Kelvin’s adopted children all attended an expensive private Church of England school with an exceedingly good reputation and they were delighted to accept his sixth child. Delighted that is till they discovered Ruth was trans. Her siblings told their dad after dinner one evening that Ruth was bullied by the school staff and they allowed and encouraged other children to mistreat Ruth too. Kelvin had a long conversation with Ruth that evening and told all his children they were not going back to school till the matter was resolved. Kelvin didn’t bother to contact the school his actions were far more profound than that.

Alicia, the bursar who was in charge of all school finances sought an emergency meeting with the headteacher. “Margot, the rent on the school grounds is due as well as all the utility bills. There is nothing in the covenant account to pay them with.”

“That’s ridiculous, we have covenants for millions a year. There must be money there.”

“I rang the bank and they informed me that the covenanted monies mostly came from the same donor. That donor has told them that there will be no more money now that he or she has become aware that the school is a hotbed of bigotry. I asked if I could be put in contact with the donor to discuss matters. The manageress said she’d been specifically instructed to say not only would I not be able to make contact, but I was not to be told the identity of our ex-benefactor.”

“What bigotry? And what happens next?”

“I don’t know what bigotry, maybe you do, but I do know thirty odd sets of parents have withdrawn their children and said they won’t be coming back. Many of them pay the fees by monthly direct debit and they’ve all cancelled the direct debits. I’ve tried to contact them, but the few who answered put the phone down on me as soon as I told them who I was. We’ve been served with a notice of eviction and can not pay the staff this month. It is my belief the staff will have to be made redundant and the pupils’ parents told the school is closing at the end of the month. We have no choice. If you as the head don’t come clean on the matter you will be personally liable for all the staffs’ salary claims under industrial relations law, and God alone knows what claims if the children come to school with no teachers here to ensure their safety.”

“How the hell did all this come about?”

“I have no idea, but I already have a couple of job applications sent off. I suggest you do the same.

The bursar again sought an interview with the head. “The teacher unions are advising their members that under the present conditions their contracts allow them to take a job as soon as they can find one, and you’ll have to manage with what staff is left and take your chances on law suits. Virtually all of the staff have given their statutory month’s notice and registered with supply agencies. Since you can’t pay them legally they can leave when offered work with no notice at all. Most have stopped coming to work since they can’t be paid and there is nothing you can do about it. I suggest you immediately inform parents of the situation and advise them to keep their children at home or make other arrangements as you no longer have enough staff to guarantee their safety here. The agencies are all aware we are bankrupt, so you can’t get supply teachers either. I suggest you inform the parents in writing and by text. I have a new job starting at the beginning of the month though I am not yet sure where I shall be working. I have heard a rumour on the grapevine that the school site has been sold and the purchaser has the intention of keeping the site as a private school.”

“Why the long face? That’s brilliant news isn’t it? It means we’re out of trouble.”

“Not really. Apparently the purchaser is the ex-donor, and it is his or her intention to force the school to close. It has been said that none of the existing staff will be considered for a job, and all the existing pupils will be vetted as to whether they will be allowed to go to school here. The rumour is most won’t. We have ten days left to vacate the premises.”

The school closed and a new staff was in place within the week. They had been subject to a rigorous but unusual interview process. The school opened to pupils a month later, and less than ten percent of the children who’d attended before were accepted to continue. A significant proportion of the new pupils were attending free of charge. The school had a slightly different curriculum and a very different set of school rules. The school was now an all year round boarding school for any child who wished to stay at school rather than go anywhere else out of school hours and during school holidays. The orphanage that had been Ruth’s vision of hell had closed as a result. There were more care staff than there were teachers, and it was care not abuse. The children who lived at school lived in small family units with married couples many of whom had jobs outside the school. It was as close to a caring family life for them as it was possible to achieve.

The bursar was surprised to discover that her new job was working at the school in her old capacity. She’d had no interview as such and had been informed her references that counted were from children who had attended the school before it shut. Several of the new teachers were dismissed in the first term for breach of contract which their unions had told them they had no chance of fighting let alone overturning, for their contracts were crystal clear and they had broken the terms of what they had signed up to. A number of children were summarily expelled for bullying. Their parents had no case to fight as their school fees had been returned in full all in accord with the contract they had signed.

Alicia had been going out with Kelvin for a couple of months when he proposed and she accepted. They’d been married six months and Alicia had been pregnant for three before she became aware that her husband, their six children’s father, was the one who’d stopped keeping the school afloat, made all the staff bar her redundant and refused to accept most of the old pupils. He was also running the new school as a non denominational charity. “Why?” She asked.

“Because of the way Ruth was treated. My children told me to retain you, and they were the ones who vetted the pupils. They are the ones who really run the school. Many of the children who now attend free of charge are LGBT+ and have been subject to bullying and in some cases serious violence in the past. Others, whilst not LGBT+, have been ill treated in the past. This school is my response to that, and it came about because my children thought it would a good idea. After all what good is money if you can’t use it to make the world a better place.”

Alicia smiled a wry smile and said, “I kept telling Margot, all children deserve to be treated fairly and there was no such thing as a child who deserved to be bullied, for no human being is inherently evil just because of how they see themself, but her brand of church was very different from mine. The ironic thing is that she prefers women. I’m sure she thought I wasn’t aware of that, but she gave herself away a couple of Christmases ago. She’d had too much to drink and tried to kiss me under the mistletoe. That was when a lot of other things about her made sense to me. You’d think as a member of the LGBT+ she’d have sympathy for others, but I suspect she behaved the way she did as a kind of camouflage.”

“Whatever she was she should have known better,” was all Kelvin had to say.