You are here

Contested TPR and Step Parent Adoption Hearing on July 9th

Ladygroff's picture
Forums: 

I'm a step mother of a little girl 7 years old, whom I'm trying to adopt. I have been the only mother this child knows for half her life (3 years.) She has little to no memory of her biological mother, but she knows she left and didn't come back. The bio-mom left in early 2007, leaving the country taking her son with her (My step daughters *half* brother) to meet a man she had met on the internet. She had no contact with the child and did not pay child support. June 2008 my husband was grant full custody.

She was kicked out of Canada and then made it back into this state about May 2009, which is the closest date we can PROVE she was back and still did nothing. UNTILL....

August 2009 she was served with a court date for owing child support. 2 weeks later (September) she filed for modifying the parenting plan. (In response, clearly) But she continued to have more children! Every child from a different man. We have been to many court dates over her owing child support since but no date was ever set for the parenting plan. She has not attempted to contact her daughter and has only paid $40 monthly payments once in a while. The child has lived in the same home with the same address which she has all her little life, and the bio-mom has always known where the child has lived. The bio-mom owes 5k in arrears and there is Contempt court date scheduled for July 29th for child support againnnn. She will not sign consent for adoption, so it will be contested on the 9th.

This is not the first time the bio-mom has left the child and took off, just the longest. 3 years this little girl has been MY little girl. I did it all. In my HEART this is my daughter. And to her *I* am her REAL mommy.

Everything said here can and will be proven in court on the 9th but I would like some of your opinions on how it will go.

I feel that if the bio-mom was a man this would be cake if she was a man and crack the whip like they do all the bio-dads. If you imagine this story as this women being the bio-dad, I would have never gotten a negitive reaction. Because shes a women I feel that they make take it easier on her. It is OBVIOUS to me everyone completely frowns upon me trying to take rights from women who proves to not be a real mother. Too many cases of SAME events but with a bio-father's children being adopted by step-fathers, and very few of bio-mothers.

I haven't mention all the nut job things shes done, I've just stuck to the facts, just like it will be in court.
I have done loads of research to try to comfort and calm myself and odds are looking wonderful sometimes but terminating a bio-parents rights is a big deal. I have learned contested step-parent adoptions are 50% of the USA's adption cases so it's extremely common and easier then all other adoption cases.
Also, the state law for abandoment is seeing you child (or TRYING TO counts also) and SUPPORTING the child *with-in* your means for 6 months or longer. (3 years beats that all to hell) We are proving she is not supporting her with-in her means nor seen her or tried seeing her for 3 years.

Do you think adoption will be granted?

I did get a response on yahoo answers saying its NOT in the kids best interest for the mother to be stripped of her rights so I guess she should keep her rights incase one day she actually wants to see her daughter in the future? Leave her with abandoment issues again that I have to clean up AGAIN like I did the last time, with the help of psycologists? And when she leaves her again like the last 2 times? It is really her RIGHT to torment and distroy this wonderfull little girl so many times in her short life? If it is her RIGHT to do this, I hope to strip her of this right.

Please explain why she should NOT be stipped of her rights if you do indeed feel so, so I can understand your point of veiw.

This women has no clue who this child is and visa versa.

Ladygroff's picture

We are going to court on the 9th for TPR (abandonment) so I can adopt.

As far as Child support we have NEVER pushed for child support -- it was automatically in the full custody order 3 years ago (2007.) My husbands lawyer at the time said this would help our case for if/when she returns she'll owe lots. He didn't get custody for 7 months after she had been gone to another country.
One day we received a court date to go to for child support for Oct 2009 (first and only notice about ever receiving child support and first notice that she was even back in the states. Surprise shes back!) Had no clue. My husband has had to go to court so many times over her not paying, Bureau for child support enforcement is the one who keeps making so many dates to go to court.

"You can't, however, keep going to court over contempt for support payments if you're trying to adopt" you say, but we are not the ones doing this. How can we stop the Bureau for child support enforcement from making so many court dates?

In August my husband and I will been married for 2 years, together for 3+

As for Abandonment in this state -- Not supporting the child *with-in* your means. and not attempting to visit or communicate with the child for a period of 6 months or more.

She's making payments of $40 a month sometimes (missing some here and there) and is ordered to pay $200/month.
We can prove she ISNOT paying with-in her means.

hismineandours's picture

I think the fact that she is paying anything in cs will really kill your chances of a stepparent adoption. I am not sure how you can PROVE that she is not paying within her means? Who decides what her means are? You? The previous court order? A judge could decide that the previous order was too much, but she is still trying to support her child and just have cs lowered. It is really hard to terminate parental rights and truthfully if it goes to court and she states a desire to see her child and with the fact that she has made an attempt to make some payments that they will not terminate, but give her another chance.