Posted on 12/24/2004 10:05:06 AM PST by Peace4EarthNow
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A couple must return a 3-year-old boy they adopted shortly after birth to his biological mother, a judge has ruled.
Evan Parker Scott has lived with Dawn and Gene Scott for most of his life, but the adoption petition was dismissed because the boy's biological mother did not get consent from the father.
Judge Waddell Wallace III last week ordered the Scotts to take the child to a naval base in Illinois where his biological mother lives. The mother, Amanda Hopkins, will have custody, but the court ordered that the boy's biological father be given liberal visitation rights.
The Scotts are "trying to prepare Evan the best way we know how for the horrific event he faces," the couple said in a statement. "We are spending our last few days together as a family preparing for Santa and trying to make a happy holiday time for Evan."
Hopkins and the boy's father, Steven A. White Jr., never married, and she did not learn she was pregnant until she sought medical treatment for injuries suffered when she was assaulted in the residence they once shared, court documents show.
Hopkins supported the Scotts' adoption of Evan until it appeared the court might grant White's request for custody.
"She took an adversarial position against them because she felt it was not in Evan's best interest to live with the father," said Debbie Grabarkiewicz, director of case advocacy for Hear My Voice, a nonprofit network of child advocates.
Not enough information in this article to really know what the situation is. If the father is a nutjob, this could be a good thing.
Judges like this have ruined adoption in this country. My sister adopted two girls from China for exactly this reason. She did not want a knock on her door someday.
http://www.news4jax.com/news/4018908/detail.html
more here with video and pictures..
The SCOTUS ruled years and years ago that adoptions must have consent of both parents, or else the father has to have his parental rights terminated first.
Why should the mother be able to give away the child without the father's consent?
I don't think you read the article correctly. The biological father is NOT the adoptive Father. So, basically, they're taking this child away from the only parents he's known and giving him to total strangers. Wow, that sounds like the best interest of the child, doesn't it?
There is enough information to know this isn't in the best interest of the child. The judge is a disgrace
I agree that the Judges have ruined adoption in this country. I had always wanted to adopt a child, but I will not adopt an American child because I know that one day, even YEARS after the adoption, they might take the child away.
If I ever do adopt, it will be from overseas.
The bio dad did not sign off custody. It was not a completed adoption. As long as the laws give rights to birthfathers, this stupidity will keep on happening.
It doesn't matter. If the biological Father had any compassion in his body he would let the situation stand. Maybe when the child was older he could establish some kind of relationship with that child. But why should the child be punished for the mistakes of the adults. It's outrageous. It just makes me want to cry.
Hmm, she found out she was pregnant when dad assaulted her. Now, they are going to take this baby away from his loving, adopted family, and return him to this unstable environment?
How can that ever be a good thing?
I would flee the country if I had too.
She shouldn't but she did. Punish her, not the child. At some point the child's best interest should trump the father's.
Or, there needs to be a statute of limitations. Like 6 weeks.
The judge is putting the child in his mother's custody, which she sued for obviously to protect the child from a potentially abusive father. The biological parents are separated. Let's not jump to conclusions.
I don't envy judges for having to make decisions like these. They weigh the evidence and base their rulings on the factors enumerated in the statute.
If you want to see a furious domestic relations judge, tell them you think they don't care about a child.
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