LAS VEGAS, NV – When Chris and Tracey Potoski received the frantic call from their nanny, they were shocked. The nanny informed the couple, away from home while attending an adult industry function, that Tracey’s parents had contacted the Department of Social Services with complaints about the couple’s employment, inspiring social workers to quiz their five-year-old child. As they endured the intense scrutiny of a system populated by well-intended professionals who often think that working in porn industry is synonymous with being an abusive/neglectful drug addict, they realized that someone had to do something. That someone was the Potoskis.Once cleared of all suspicion of wrongdoing, the two formed Parents In Adult, a group dedicated to providing support, information, and education for parents dealing with the challenges presented with working in the adult industry while raising children.

On Thursday, January 5, 2006, the Potoskis, along with fellow PIA members Dr. John Pappas, Blake Tsai, Brad Bannon, and Lori Z of TheAdultBroker.com, addressed a small but keenly interested crowd during the first day of Internext Seminars. The panel discussed their personal and professional experiences dealing with DSS, family members, society at large – and their own internal issues or guilt or shame.

“I used to feel like I had to choose between my child and my career,” Lori Z. confessed at one point. “But it’s not true,” she assured a phone sex worker who expressed fears that her teen daughter might find out about her work.

As well as providing industry employees with peer support, Chris Potoski says PIA plans to offer education on how to improve parenting skills, as well as information about litigation, liability, and parental rights. The group currently has four psychiatrists, including Pappas, available to answer questions about how to deal with hostile family members or how to provide appropriate information to children. Attorneys are also available for advice and insights regarding navigating the often frightening legal and social realities of parenting while employed in adult enterprises. Chief among the recommendations presented by attorney Brad Bannon was the importance of seeking local counsel.

During a sometimes emotional discussion, Tracey Potoski and Lori Z. emphasized the importance of industry parents choosing to shun shame and embrace pride in what they do for a living. “Our society is more conservative right now and we’re letting their moral views affect what we do. But what we do is not illegal,” Potoski reminded the audience, “There’s nothing wrong with what we do – and if we act like there is, what are our children and other people supposed to think?” According to Potoski, one of the important things that PIA can do is create a sense of mutually supportive community, much like members of other alternative lifestyle groups have successfully done in order to improve their living conditions.

Among the ongoing projects PIA is involved with is assembling the DSS manuals of each state and placing them on the ParentsInAdult.com website, which also has an active chat board. The organizers are anxious to hear from other parents who work behind or in front of the camera and encourages them to contact them via email or telephone with any questions, concerns, or ideas they might have. “We’re available,” Chris Potoski assured those assembled.