Meet the Team
Ted R. Youmans
was born in 1960 in Rockford, Illinois and is a member of a family of seven children. He has lived in Southern California since 1983 when he commenced his law school education in Los Angeles. He graduated from Whittier Law School in 1986, after receiving his Bachelors Degree in 1982 from the University of Arizona. He has worked exclusively in the area of adoption; adoption litigation; foster parent and dependency litigation, and guardianships. He became a named partner of Van Deusen, Youmans & Walmsley of Santa Ana, California, in 1992. In November 2008, Mr. Youmans and his wife Sheryl founded FAMILYBUILDING™, A Professional Law Corporation for Adoption Law Firm Anaheim California servicing all of California. He is an active member of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys and Academy of California Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys, which academies are dedicated to the promotion and development of highly competent, ethical practices in adoption and children’s law. Other talented lawyers who are called to adoption law have joined the Familybuilding™ team, whose mission is to transform generational lines through adoption. In addition to the Law practice Mr. Youmans has been active in legislative changes in these areas of the law.
In January, 2006 he served as an Adjunct Adoption Law Professor at Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa, California and served on the Law School’s Center For Children’s Rights Board of Advisors. He was a Board Member of His Children, Inc., a non-profit whose mission it is to educate and encourage the Christian Community and churches to develop Adoption Ministries in order to provide homes for orphans and foster children. He was the past Chairman of and current Board Member of the Orange County Youth Commission; is a past Chairman of the Fiduciary Board of his local church; volunteered in the Santa Ana Stay-In-School and Career Day Programs; The Joseph’s Storehouse Ministry to assist single mothers, the financially destitute and homeless, and; coached Little League for over ten years.
Mr. Youmans has been lead and associate counsel in numerous published and unpublished appellate court cases that have established precedents at the California Courts of Appeal and Supreme Court involving adoption, dependency/foster care, surrogacy and guardianship law. He has spoken throughout California on adoption, guardianship and foster parent’s issues over his professional career. His professional goal is to educate the community about adoption; promote adoption; prevent children from falling into the foster care system; maintaining children in stable, loving homes, and; promoting guardianships by relatives where adoption is not available.
In 2004 Mr. Youmans was published in the Whittier Journal of Child and Family Advocacy, Fall 2004 in an article entitled “Adoption: An Answer For Children In Crisis”. He has been interviewed by several newspapers, periodicals, and T.V. shows over the past 30 years regarding new statutory and case law developments as well as cases he was involved in that were in the press because of their public policy ramifications.
He has been married to his wife, Sheryl for over 30 years. Mr. Youmans has two step children, three biological children, an adopted daughter and fostered two relatives. The opportunity his family has been given to adopt and foster has given him a personal perspective and an invested heart and passion on what he advocates for each day at Adoption Law Firm Anaheim California servicing all of California.
Lindsie McBratney
was born in Riverside, California. At an early age, she knew she wanted to be an attorney. After graduating cum laude from Loyola Marymount University with a Bachelor of Arts degree, she contemplated whether she should pursue her dream of going to law school and becoming an attorney. Through a mutual friend, Lindsie was introduced to Ted Youmans at Adoption Law Firm Anaheim California servicing all of California and was able to discuss the area of adoption. It was at that point that Lindsie decided to continue her dream of going to law school, with the specific intention of practicing adoption law. She graduated from Chapman Law School in May 2006 and was admitted to the California bar the following December.
Lindsie now loves being a part of building families through adoptions and guardianships. Lindsie is married to Alex McBratney. They live in Newport Beach and attend Rock Harbor Church. Together they enjoy going on mission trips with their church, mountain biking, camping, and visiting with family and friends.
Tami A. Toumayan
is a native of Southern California. Tami started her law practice in the area of personal injury defense, but found it unsatisfying and knew she wanted to do more to assist families and children in need of a home. In 1997, after visiting Judge Henning’s courtroom at Children’s Court and observing many trials, she gained a passion for adoption law. Tami began practicing in the field of adoptions and joined FAMILYBUILDING™, A Professional Law Corporation, in 2009. At Adoption Law Firm Anaheim California servicing all of California Tami has been involved in handling domestic independent adoptions, step-parent adoptions, adult adoptions, birth parent representations and guardianships. She has a passion for children and families which she carries into her daily practice. Tami enjoys working with birth parents and meeting their expectations when it comes to placing their child in a loving adoptive home. She enjoys watching the connections made between birth parents and an adoptive family. She takes great pleasure in meeting the needs of prospective adoptive parents and fulfilling their desire to create a family.
Tami received a BA in Diplomacy and World Affairs from Occidental College and her JD from McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific. She received honors for her written brief prepared for the Moot Court project during her second year of law school. Tami was admitted to the California State Bar in June of 1989 and the Supreme Court of the United States in June of 2003. She is also admitted to the Central and Southern Districts of the Federal District Court of the State of California.
Tami has volunteered with the Alliance for Children’s Rights where she handled the finalization of foster-adoptions and guardianships. She facilitates a ministry at her church, the Westside Vineyard Christian Fellowship, called Hearts 4 Kids. The ministry engages in outreach activities with local foster youth in Los Angeles County and supports the families in her church who choose to start a family through fostering and adoption.
Ms. Toumayan is married and lives in South Pasadena, California with her husband. In her free time, Tami enjoys taking walks, attending cultural events, traveling and learning about new places and people.
Shannon M. Franck
is a Southwestern Law School graduate. Shannon graduated in the top ten percent of her class and was admitted to the California Bar. During her attendance at Southwestern Law School, Shannon was a staff member and an associate editor of the Law Review. She was a member of the Environmental Law Society and chaired and organized the First Annual Environmental Law Society Earth Day which was a huge success in sharing with the community environmentally friendly organizations, interests, and food establishments in the Los Angeles area.
Additionally while at Southwestern, Shannon had the opportunity to intern at the Alliance for Children’s Rights where she advocated at administrative hearings for children in the foster care system to receive benefits they are entitled to due to severe emotional, behavioral or physical disabilities. Shannon also interned for the Honorable Amy M. Pellman at Edelman Children’s Court where she experienced the foster care and dependency system first hand. Working with Judge Pellman gave Shannon insight to the court’s role in the dependency system and she observed the court offering services in an attempt to reunite families. This provided several opportunities for Shannon to witness the extraordinary value and importance of the adoptive court system, such as when parents were unable to reunite with their children due to a myriad of hardships, foster parents were able to adopt their foster children and provide a stable home they would have otherwise never known. Shannon was moved during the course of this internship, and is now passionately committed to help build families through the process of Adoption Law Firm Anaheim California servicing all of California, and thereby removing children out of crisis and into stable, loving, and permanent homes. During this sometimes difficult process, she also maintains compassion and the utmost care for both the adoptive and birth parents.
Shannon is married to James Franck. She enjoys a regular yoga practice where she balances mind, body and spirit and chooses a conscious way of living. She also enjoys knitting because it allows her to be creative and produce handmade gifts which she knows her friends and family will cherish. Similarly, she enjoys baking and cake decorating with her mom. Shannon loves the challenges the arts of yoga, knitting, and baking provide because they are a simple way to remind her that with hard work and dedication we can overcome any obstacle or challenge.
Stephanie A. Stout
was born in Bakersfield, California, and now resides in Boise, Idaho. She is passionate about helping children move from crisis to stability. She considers it a privilege to walk alongside families with empathy, legal strategies, and the goal of reconciliation for all parties. Stephanie was first drawn to helping women in crisis after her experiences volunteering at a domestic violence shelter for women with young children.
She graduated from Westmont College with a BA in Communication Studies and credits Westmont for shaping her to be a lifelong learner. She graduated from Whittier Law School, Magna Cum Laude. During her time at Whittier, Stephanie was an associate editor of the Whittier Journal of Child & Family Advocacy, member of the Moot Court Honors Board, and Fellow with the Center for Children’s Rights. Additionally, she spent a summer studying international adoption and children’s rights in Nanjing, China.
Stephanie is dedicated to the CASA program as a volunteer attorney, representing the guardian ad litem for children in foster care. She is a member of the Idaho Women Lawyers and Idaho Child Protection section.
Stephanie is licensed to practice law in California and Idaho. She and her husband have three children and are former foster parents. In her free time, she loves snow sports in the winter and kayaking in the summer. Stephanie is a sports fan through and through. She played volleyball at Westmont College and now sits on the Board of her local Little League. Stephanie enjoys learning new skills, reading, and traveling – when her kids’ sports schedules allow.
Sharon L. Horner
was drawn to adoption at a young age when her parents considered adopting another child. When she learned how many children were in dire need of loving homes and experienced the emotional struggles of a family unable to grow by natural means, she realized her calling in life was to serve children and families through adoption.
Sharon attended Westmont College in Santa Barbara where she double-majored in Psychology and Communication Studies. This educational background equipped Sharon with the skills to counsel clients through the emotional aspects of adoption and help adoptive families and birth parents navigate their relationship. At Westmont, Sharon founded a ministry consisting of student volunteers that supported local foster children through mentorship, tutoring, and respite care. Sharon earned her J.D. and certificate in mediation at the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento. During law school, she represented foster children in dependency court. Witnessing the challenges children experienced in foster care deepened her resolve to help them achieve stability and permanence through adoption.
Sharon believes supporting birth mothers is an essential element of successful adoptions. Prior to joining Adoption Law Firm Anaheim California servicing all of California, she worked as an adoption facilitator where she helped birth mothers select an adoptive family and assisted them through the adoption process. Sharon currently volunteers as a patient advocate at a Christian pregnancy clinic. She provides patients with educational information, emotional and spiritual support, and resources to bolster their parenting or adoption plan.
Sharon lives in Sacramento, California. She enjoys reading, hiking, kayaking, ice skating, strategy games, and aerial yoga. She loves animals and regularly volunteers at her local SPCA.
Rachel Warren
is a native of Southern California. After beginning her law practice in labor & employment, Rachel felt called to pursue adoption law and advocate for promoting life and creating families. She has always had a heart for the pro-life movement and for supporting both mother and child. While in law school, Rachel’s Student Comment “Pro [Whose?] Choice”, which argues for the Constitutional personhood of the unborn, was published in Chapman Law Review. She was also awarded a position in the Blackstone Legal Fellowship with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a leadership development program designed to equip law students to engage the legal culture particularly with natural law principles and in the realms of religious freedom and First Amendment issues.
Rachel received her Bachelors Degree from the University of Southern California in 2003 and her law degree from Chapman University in 2010. While in law school, where she graduated second in her class, Rachel served as Senior Notes Editor on the Executive Board of Chapman Law Review and was a member of the Moot Court Honor Board. She was also nominated to the National Order of Scribes and was the recipient of the Golden Quill Award for superior brief writing. In addition to the Blackstone Fellowship, Rachel also served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Glenda Sanders in the Orange County Superior Court.
Rachel also currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at Fowler School of Law, Chapman University, where she teaches a class with focus on practical application of principles learned in Civil Procedure lecture courses.
Rachel lives in South Orange County with her husband Jim and two boys. They attend Coast Hills Church in Aliso Viejo. Together they enjoy being outdoors, traveling, movie nights, and cheering on the USC Trojans.