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Help! Please!
I need some advice what legal moves to make. My husband and I recently moved to Central Florida from South Florida. We attended our Orientation class around Thanksgiving and we are on pins and needles until we know when the next MAPP classes will be.
We have a special needs son who will be six. Since we are new to the area, we do not know anyone here well enough to leave him with anyone, and if we go out as a couple it is when my Mother drives up and stays for holidays, long weekends etc. So this whole adoption thing will be a family affair. My Mom came in for the Orientation, and will do the same for the all the MAPP classes.
I have been browsing this site (unregistered) for awhile trying to glean whatever information I could. I did learn as a potential adoptive mother I should get the information "out there" that I am looking to adopt.
Private adoption is not financially feasible for us. We have been going the "state" route. My son has been begging us for a baby brother (:-0) which is impossible for me to do, and which is improbable through the state. We are not planning to foster.
I do not know if you believe in Prayer, but I have been praying and praying for a "baby" to come our way.
Here is my dilemma:
My Mother went to a Christmas party at a dear friends house. Her friend's son was there with a female friend (not sure how romantically linked they are). Let's call her Bea (not her real name). My mother was showing a picture of my little boy to the group and Bea could not get over how much my boy looked like her little boy. She said they could pass as brothers. My Mom asked her "How old is your son?" Bea said he will be 3 at the end of January. Which happens to be when my son's birthday is. So my Mom asked her "January what?" Bea said "January 26th or 27th!" My son's birthday is the 27th. My Mom's antenna's went up, and instinctively realized, she would know the day if he was in her custody.
She asked her "He is not with you???" and Bea told my Mom. "No someone took him from me." My mom sat with her through the entire party talking, and this is what she got from her. When Bea had the baby, she was in no position/state of mind to raise the baby. The baby is with the sister of an ex boyfriend (Not the bio Father!!!!!) but I guess she was with that boyfriend at the time she gave birth. She does not know the last name of the bio Father. He was never in the picture.
The sister of the ex boyfriend still has the child. Bea used to visit him, until the last time she went there, the baby had bruises over his back. I guess she questioned them about it. They never let her see him again. They never legally adopted the baby, Bea said she never signed anything. She would like to get him away from them, but she is not in a position to take care of him herself. She does not know what to do.
My mother not really knowing the legal moves to make either, asked Bea if she can take care of the child now, Bea said "No". It seems she is not really bonded to him, but it does not sit right with her about the bruises and the whole way, they stopped letting her see him. She would like to get him signed over to a good Mother. not really trusting the situaton he is in. My mom told her we were looking to adopt, and asked her several times "You never signed anything???" Bea insists "No, this was not a legal adoption, and it is not family"
My Mother told her, if it ever came down to anything, her daughter was a wonderful mother, a stay at home mom etc. My mother turned to her friend and asked her what kind of mother I am...and her friend said "They don't come any better!!"
Bea gave my mom her first and last name her phone number, and said she was interested. She said she would sign legal papers to do this all legally. My husband wants to see pictures of the child, he says "you would not buy a car site unseen, you view the children's pictures on the State websites to see who tugs your heart." My child is beautiful and he has developmental delays. What would you learn from his picture?? I don't think that Bea has any pictures anyway. Unless they were from when he was an infant.
Here is my dilemma. Where do I start? Drive across the state to meet Bea, if nothing can be legally done?? Contact an attorney who will charge us thousands of dollars for a (possible) private adoption that we found ourselves???
1) I can call the woman who gave my Orientation class and ask her what to do, but the state may pull this child from his environment, put him in state care, and foster him out first, which is not in our plans. Then we would lose out on him.
OR
2) I can try to find out where the child is and see him interacting with the family (from afar???) to see how he is developmentally.
OR
3) I can get paper work drawn up and signed by the bio Mother, and then contact the woman from children and families and ask her then what to do.
I am not family or next of kin, but if I meet this bio Mother and she trusts us and finds us worthy, and she agrees, does she have legal say who her baby goes to??? Basically this looks like kidnapping if they are now witholding the child.....but then again at the same time if she is struggling either financially or emotionally and cannot take her child, she possibly does not have the where-with-all to fight these people, and they could possibly call this abandonement on her part. She possibly does not understand her rights.
4) What legal rights do they (the people with the baby) have???
5) Do I still need to take my MAPP classses??? If so, Should I finish the MAPP classes and then pursue the adoption. If I do not have the MAPP classes done the child may go to someone else.
Please I am begging for help. Any and all advice is welcome. My Mother said "don't get all crazy now", but I feel if I do not try to pursue this, I may always regret it. Don't forget this gal is a friend of my mother's, friend's, son. So she may feel very comfortable with the situation. Can this be the baby I was praying for???
Thank you ahead of time!
Love & Light, Tee
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I'm not in Florida, but here's my take on this situation:
If the child truly had bruises "all over his body" without a reasonable explanation, then anyone who cares about the child should call Social Services and report it.
If the child was truly taken from "Bea" without her consent, she should have called the police to report a kidnapping. She still can, and should. Even if she can't care for the child, she shouldn't sit back and let the child be cared for by people she thinks are kidnappers.
But Bea doesn't seem to have her head on straight since she reported neither the "kidnapping" nor the "abuse", so I'm not sure I'd trust anything she said, let alone put your heart on the line by considering an adoption of this child.
You are correct that even if you pursue this and hope it turns into an adoption, that the choices are:
1- the boy enters Social Services based on the abuse and abandonment and illegality of the situation, where he will be fostered until a parent gets custody or he is adopted by somebody. Or,
2-you pursue a private adoption with the mother and pay the thousands of dollars it will cost to untangle the possible illegalities and get the signatures of everybody involved and weather the legal challenges of the family the boy considers to be his own (and which might have legal standing you haven't been told of).
If you want to be altruistic and get to the bottom of the situation, go ahead and hire a lawyer. Bring the mother to the lawyer, and have her explain everything. Have the lawyer investigate, and tell you the truth of the situation. THEN decide if there's anything that can be done for the child, THEN decide if it's a possible adoption situation. Yes, this will cost money, but better to find out the situation before you get emotionally involved.
Keep us posted on what you decide.
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Thank you DianeS for your post.
Bear in mind I heard the story from my Mom, not directly from Bea. It seems the child was left there on her (Bea's) own volition, but it turned out differently than she had hoped. I am not sure of all the details why she could not take care of the child, emotional, substance abuse, financially struggling. But maybe at this point she feels it is out of her control (if she is still struggling with whatever issues she had to begin with) believe me I am not making excuses for her, but maybe if she is not strong enough in whatever area to pursue a fight here.
Might a legal scenario be...the boy enters Social Services based on the abuse and abandonment and illegality of the situation, where he will be fostered until a parent gets custody (Bea) who is already prepared to sign him over to us ???
Or if she was ready to sign him over would the state decide who he would go to, and overide any requests she would make???
Thanx-ahead-of-time!
Love & Light, Tee
Oh yes, I am still trying to figure out if I should call Bea myself to dis-assemble this mystery!!!
Hi All.
I did want to Thank everyone who posted and gave me good advice. Just to update you. It turned out that I did contact the state worker (social worker?) that gave the Orientation class before the MAPP classes, and threw the story out at her.
She did say: The story may have more than a few flaws to it, that you are probably unaware of. You are hearing only one side of the story. You have already done all that you can do, giving the bioMom the option of adoption. She told me the mother now has that option, and if she wants to act on it, it is now up to her to do this leg work.
If I get anymore involved at this point it may turn into a private adoption if an attorney has to do all kinds of research into the case...OR...it may just turn into a big mess. She basically told me to let it go. The mother knows where to find me now if she wants to, being that her friends mother is my mother's friend.
I spoke to my mom again, and she previously forgot to mention to me, that although the bioMom is here in Florida, the baby is in another state. So I was able to add that information to what I shared with the social worker. The SW then said "Well now , we are adding interstate to the whole thing, that is another story" the bioMom came to Florida to find the b ioDad, whose last name she does not know. The family watching the child possibly can get her on abandonment. The sw basically, kindly told me to "let it go" that I was thinking as a mother and not seeing the big picture!
On that note I will tell you, I s tart my MAPP classes January 5th :-) I am so excited and so nervous...wish me luck!!!!! Thanks again.
Have a Happy Healthy New Year!
Love & Light, Teeg