A father may finally receive primary custody of his daughter after an 8-year custody battle. The custody battle relates to a girl who was born in 2008, and then given up for adoption by the mother — who wanted the girl to be given to her brother and sister-in-law. However, the mother did not obtain the father’s permission before giving the baby up for adoption.
The adoption took place in Utah, where the adoptive parents claim that only one parent needs to consent to the adoption of the baby. That said, the father claims that he told the mother clearly that he did not want his baby to be adopted. Furthermore, the baby was born six weeks prematurely and the father was not aware. The Utah Supreme Court ultimately ruled that the adoption was illegal, but the adoptive parents had filed a custody suit in Colorado, so the case was then turned over to be litigated there.
According to a Dec. 2 decision by a judge in Colorado, the biological mother, her brother and her sister-in-law engaged in deliberate and intentional deception to mislead the biological father. They even explored the possibility of early labor induction in order to carry out their plans.
The father was overjoyed by the judge’s decision and cannot believe that his daughter could soon be coming home to him. He said that he is in shock and he wants to give his daughter a stable family where she can heal. The father said that his daughter is a normal 8-year-old girl who loves ice skating, dolls and sports.
The threat of losing one’s boy or girl in a child custody lawsuit is scary for any Omaha resident involved in such a court battle. For this reason, parents may want to seek out advice and assistance from an experienced child custody lawyer. A lawyer can assist parents in evaluating their options and determining the most suitable legal strategy in order to advocate for their rights in court.
Source: CBS Denver, “Father Could Be Granted Parental Rights After 8 Years,” Lauren DiSpirito, Dec. 06, 2016