VICTORIA BUSH-JOSEPH

Victoria (Vicky) Bush-Joseph played a critical role in shaping the Illinois law that mandates insurance coverage for infertility. Vicky served as the Chair of Advocacy for RESOLVE of Illinois, and was a member of its Board of Directors for many years. Vicky, along with TERRI FINESMITH HORWICH, drafted the Illinois Family Building Act and co-directed RESOLVE's lobbying campaign to pass the law, which requires insurance coverage for medical treatment of infertility. RESOLVE's all-volunteer effort to pass the Family Building Act was hailed by then-Governor Edgar and legislative leaders as the single most successful grassroots legislative effort they had witnessed. Vicky and Terri were also primarily responsible for helping the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services design the Putative Father Registry, improving the adoption process in the wake of the Baby Richard case by making it easier to identify birthfathers.

     Vicky is a Lecturer of Graduate Legal Studies at Loyola University of Chicago's Law School, where she teaches a seminar on adoption law, and is also a retired member of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. She authored the 2001 update for the adoption chapter of the IICLE Illinois Family Law Practice Handbook, and wrote the chapter on "Practical and Financial Aspects" for IICLE's 2002 Illinois Adoption Law Practice Handbook.

     Before beginning the practice of law concentrating on adoption and infertility issues, Vicky practiced law as in-house counsel for AT&T and Ameritech for ten years. Vicky graduated summa cum laude from Loyola University of Chicago in 1978. She also received her law degree in 1982 from Loyola, where she was a member of the law review. Vicky became "of counsel" to the firm in 2003 to enable her to stay at home full-time with her three children.

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