Retired Surrogate Court Judge Joseph S. Mattina, who oversaw about 10,000 adoptions in his decades on the bench, received cards every Christmas from adoptive parents. When he went out in public, someone invariably pulled up a child’s photo on their phone or from their wallet.

In 2016, Judge Mattina was especially touched by a long, handwritten letter from a nurse who adopted two girls from India. In 1993, Catholic Charities, the agency that had placed her second daughter in her home, changed its course at the final adoption hearing. A social worker argued that the girl should be raised by a married couple, not a single woman. Judge Mattina removed Catholic Charities from the case and had Erie County take over.