Frightened and very confused

It sounds like this is a foster case? I'm not very familiar with these cases but I do know that Social Services has to be involved and that the social workers need to do an investigation. Perhaps if they are aware of the domestic abuse they could be of some help. Let us know what happens.

This is not a foster case. The birth mom decided to place both her children (one 6, one 14 months and different fathers) because she herself had been raised in foster care and had no family to speak of. She was doing this all alone with no support financially from the birth fathers. She is an amazing gal who sadly made some mistakes during the adoption process and lied to the social workers. She has also lied under oath in court and that is why the AG office is going after her. Do the courts give children back to abusive, possibly drug dealing, homeless birth fathers? He never was that interested (according to the birth mom) before the adoption, but now he wants his son back. We're worried about the type of life our son would have if the courts order him back.

I would contact a GOOD adoption attorney and see what they have to say. Did you know about her lying under oath before you accepted the baby? I think you definately have an uphill battle on your hands. Sounds like lots of things have to be proven. Are you in a different state than bfather? Good luck and we will say some prayers for you.

The agency was extremely careful in asking and re-asking all the right questions. For us and them, we had NO idea she was lieing to us. Plus she lied in court AFTER placement. She told everyone she still had her son when she didn't. Birth parent in CA, we and the agency are in another state.

A lot also depends on how much he supported her through her pregnancy, financially, etc. And every state and every court is different. Also, if he abused her, was it on record?? And if he knew about the pregnancy and birth, where was he when she needed him? Check out the putative father registry. It still holds a LOT of water.

Hi all...been awhile since I posted in this forum, but have read here many times. We are still in a foster care situation, but with some twists. To recap:We receieved placement of 3 siblings who had been found in a motel in Jan 06. We did not know their names/bdates, other info until about 2 weeks later when their bio mom finally came forward. Bio dad was named, at that time serving time for D felony domestic violence. Bio mom never did anything on case plan and has not seen the kids since she left them that day in the motel. Bio dad has not seen them in 1.5-2.5 years (not sure if he broke his no contact order or not). He was released from his DV time in Sept, but deported to Mexico in Oct. From then until Mid-Feb, no one had heard a word from him. (2 weeks before DCS filed for TPR) They have filed, but bdad is fighting and the Mexican consulate's office is paying for all his legal fees. We were advised by DSC to hire a lawyer so we did. We filed an adoption petition under the 'assumption' we do not need bio parents permission due to abadonment/unfit to parent. We are in two courts/two judges and just in a big mess. However, decided to fight for these kids as they are scared to death of bio dad and do not want to live w/ him, nor do they deserve to essentially be deported along with him when they are US born citizens (bio mom is citizen as well). NOW! To my question/point of the post. How are you financing your legal battles? We had to pay a $2k retainer fee and its $200/hr. I think our lawyer is great and doing as much as she can, worth the money. But we are just about tapped out! I am currently a stay at home mom, but looking into getting a job so I can help pay for the legal fees. We've gotten some money from friends and family, but its just sucked up faster than they realize. We have probably got about $6k in to it from Feb to now and haven't had court since Feb! Continuance after continuance! I'm just worried we are going to run out of money and have to drop our petition..and our attny is not sure DCS has a strong enough case to win their TPR w/o our case of trying to prove abandonment. Any suggestions?Thanks!

We hired an attorney immediately who had experience with messy cases like ours. She's incredible, and the only thing that has made our adoption barable. We had to get into our retirement savings to do it, but are glad we did. Go speak with one right away. You can consult with as many attorney's as you need to before choosing one. Amy