http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/l...s/10228054.htm
Alabama court voids adoption, orders child returned to Georgia
PHILLIP RAWLS
Associated Press
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - An Alabama appeals court voided an adoption by a Huntsville
couple Friday and ordered a 1 1/2-year-old child returned to the biological
mother in Georgia who had given her up for adoption.
In a 4-1 decision, the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals said a lower court erred
in approving the adoption because the biological father had not given his
consent.
The appeals court said the child must be returned to the biological mother,
pending further proceedings in the case, because in Alabama the mother of a
child born out of wedlock has a superior right to custody.
The court record identifies the parties only by their initials because a child
is involved.
The case involves a girl born May 4, 2003, in Gwinnett County, Ga., to a couple
that had been engaged, but never married because the woman broke off the
relationship. The biological father said he set up a bank account for the child
and tried to be involved, but was stopped by his former girlfriend's mother.
The biological mother said she received no phone calls from the biological
father for three weeks after the child was born, and at that point, she agreed
to an adoption.
A Huntsville couple picked up the child on May 27, 2003, and the probate court
in Madison County, Ala., awarded them custody on June 30, 2003. On July 14,
2003, the biological father received notice of the pending adoption and began
taking legal steps to get custody of the child.
On April 26, the probate court approved the adoption and rejected the
biological father's claim to the child, ruling that he had failed to maintain a
significant relationship with the child.
In a decision written by Republican Judge John Crawley, the majority of the
Court of Civil Appeals said the lower court erred because the biological father
was pursuing his parental rights through legal action.
In dissent, Republican Judge Glenn Murdock said filing court papers does not
equate to building human relationships with children.
"They are loved. And they love back. And bonds are formed - but not by a
biological father who has absented himself from the child's life," Murdock
wrote.
Andrew Whitmire, the attorney for the adoptive parents, declined comment on the
decision Friday.
Jim Gaines, attorney for the biological father, did not immediately return a
phone message seeking comment.
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "**** . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
Alabama court voids adoption, orders child returned to Georgia
PHILLIP RAWLS
Associated Press
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - An Alabama appeals court voided an adoption by a Huntsville
couple Friday and ordered a 1 1/2-year-old child returned to the biological
mother in Georgia who had given her up for adoption.
In a 4-1 decision, the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals said a lower court erred
in approving the adoption because the biological father had not given his
consent.
The appeals court said the child must be returned to the biological mother,
pending further proceedings in the case, because in Alabama the mother of a
child born out of wedlock has a superior right to custody.
The court record identifies the parties only by their initials because a child
is involved.
The case involves a girl born May 4, 2003, in Gwinnett County, Ga., to a couple
that had been engaged, but never married because the woman broke off the
relationship. The biological father said he set up a bank account for the child
and tried to be involved, but was stopped by his former girlfriend's mother.
The biological mother said she received no phone calls from the biological
father for three weeks after the child was born, and at that point, she agreed
to an adoption.
A Huntsville couple picked up the child on May 27, 2003, and the probate court
in Madison County, Ala., awarded them custody on June 30, 2003. On July 14,
2003, the biological father received notice of the pending adoption and began
taking legal steps to get custody of the child.
On April 26, the probate court approved the adoption and rejected the
biological father's claim to the child, ruling that he had failed to maintain a
significant relationship with the child.
In a decision written by Republican Judge John Crawley, the majority of the
Court of Civil Appeals said the lower court erred because the biological father
was pursuing his parental rights through legal action.
In dissent, Republican Judge Glenn Murdock said filing court papers does not
equate to building human relationships with children.
"They are loved. And they love back. And bonds are formed - but not by a
biological father who has absented himself from the child's life," Murdock
wrote.
Andrew Whitmire, the attorney for the adoptive parents, declined comment on the
decision Friday.
Jim Gaines, attorney for the biological father, did not immediately return a
phone message seeking comment.
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "**** . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
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