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I need help! I can not move on without my kids. My husband and I were licensed to adopt in Sept 2006. We were "matched" with a 2 yr girl (we wanted to adopt a little girl) and her 4 yr old brother the very next month. They moved in by Nov of that year. It all went really fast and we were knew to this. We didn't know what questions to ask or what we were entitled to read (placement history, medical history, abuse/neglect history, etc.).
Due to the "professionals" lack of having the childrens best interest they withheld or denied many of the behaviors we were experiencing with the children early on. This was the first time we had ever fostered any children and we were very overwhelmed. We knew we were not experienced enough to tackle their needs nor did we have any speicalized training for what we were experiencing.
These children had been extremely sexually abused and were neglected greatly. Because of this they displayed many inappropriate behaviors. On top of this they both were educationally delayed.
After dealing with the fustration of not having the system support us and what we needed for our kids, we took it upon ourselves to begin to educate ourselves on what they needed and how do we get it for them. We had to keep our focus especially since we had a toddler daughter of our own to keep in mind.
After a long road and many struggles we finally were able to line up many of the services the kids had been needing for some time.
We were in this for the long haul. We did see and want to adopt both of these kids. However, my husband was deployed 6 months after they moved in and was scheduled to be gone for 14 months. After he left I did not see many improvements in my 4 yr old. I did see some improvements for my little 2 yr old. I stayed hopeful until he fondled my biologicial daughter.
After trying many differnet services in home therapy, taking them individually to see a sexual abuse therapist, a speech pathologist and special schooling I could see that I needed to decide what I thought my family could handle in the long run. I came to the concludsion to have my boy removed. That was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.
The next day my licensing agent came by my home and said that she thought it would be a good idea to have his sister removed as well. I explain this is not what we wanted. We wanted to keep her. She said no. And by the end of the week she was picked up.
A couple of months after this my husband returned and we were stationed in another state. I went to her last court hearing right before we left. I pleaded to the judge, case workers, therapist that we wanted her back. She belonged to us and we wanted to give her the life she deserved. The judge was open to the idea as long as there were no laps in services for her if she would be returned to us. As soon as we arrived in our new location I lined up all of the same services we got for her in her home state.
What it boils down to is that her case worker had her own personal judgements on us since we could not keep her brother. She had little to no contact with me once we moved. She made some promises that she did not keep and at the end we did not get our little girl back.
It has been over a year now since we moved and I last saw her. We miss her so very much and don't know what to do. I never imagined when we first considered to foster and/or adopt that I would be at this point. That our desire to help a child that needed to be cared for and loved would lead us to fighting for that same child in court.
Please help us. We need some direction and advise. What do we do to get her back? We've been falsely labeled of not knowing how to care for a child of special needs. When we were the ones to get them the services they needed long before they came to us. Not a day goes by that I don't think of them.
Thank you for listening to my broken heart!
I am truly sad for your situation.
It may be time to consult a lawyer. By my calculations, you had this child from October 2006 - (no later than) July 2008. Or, almost two years of her four year life. She was definitely bonded with you.
One issue is that she hasn't been with you for over a year now. For her to come back to you would require a massive shift in what she has come to know, even including moving to a new state.
With the length of time that you have had her, you probably were entitled to intervenor status in her matter. You have to talk to a lawyer to know.
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They try to keep siblings together at all costs, period. Occasionally, they make an exception, but this is how I would expect them to act in this case.
I'm so sorry for what you are going through. It's unbelievable what they ask of foster parents, isn't it?
This is sad and unfortunate but I agree with Fatcat, this sounds typical. I would not expect to ask to have one child removed and keep a sibling if they can at all find a home that will take both. That is just how the system works and do not really think you have any legal grounds to do anything.
Most states try and keep siblings together, that is probably why they removed her. In our case, we were trying o keep both kids and they removed one for the sake of the other. I found out rather quickly that we had no legal ground as until the adoption is final, the children are wards of teh state with us acting as guardians. It's hard to hear, but your heart can heal from this. Mine did.
tucson.love
I need help! I can not move on without my kids.
We had to keep our focus especially since we had a toddler daughter of our own to keep in mind.
I came to the conclusion to have my boy removed.
...I explain this is not what we wanted. We wanted to keep her.
She belonged to us and we wanted to give her the life she deserved.
at the end we did not get our little girl back.
That our desire to help a child that needed to be cared for and loved
Thank you for listening to my broken heart!
I understand your hurt and pain. But raising children - even adopted children - does not come with "do overs." Children do not belong to anyone - you don't belong to your parents, your husband is not your property. We are only custodians of other people.
Try to see it from the children's point. Yes, they need care and love - as all children do. But was your desire to help one child enough to separate them?
It's unfortunate that you were not told more about the children, and that necessary services were not provided. If your biological daughter had severe issues that were beyond your capabilities to provide for, could you send her to another family?
Sadly, there are many abused children in our world who need help. But it cannot be conditional help or conditional love - it has to be unconditional or it won't stand up when the going gets tough. It may be hard to accept but is it possible that you were not fated or ready to be the "forever family" these children need? That's not to say you didn't try, you didn't mean well - but it takes more than good intentions.
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