The Ledge - a solomonian trial

what an unfortunate case that is... it's the only thing on the news here right now, and it's all so sad, whatever eventually happens, it can't end well, poor kid, and one pair of miserable parents...

Biological and adoptive parents vie over custody

The Tel Aviv's District Court ruled yesterday to delay the transfer of a 13-month-old boy from adoptive parents who have raised him since he was 10 days old to his biological parents. The decision capped a heart-wrenching day of emotional ups and downs, during which time the baby was twice put in a car to be taken to its biological parents, only to be returned to the court's custody after lawyers managed to overturn an order given on Monday by family court.
The district court ordered that the baby's adoptive parents have until 9:00 A.M. tomorrow to submit an appeal in the case. The planned transfer of custody to the biological parents is to be delayed until a decision is reached on the appeal.

Attorneys for the adoptive parents, Shmuel Moran and Shimon Shovar, will argue that their clients have not been granted legal status during the eight months of legal proceedings which have ensued since the baby's biological mother had second thoughts about turning her child over to adoption. The fact that the adopted parents have no footing in the legal debate is harmful to the child's welfare, the lawyers will argue.

"This child cannot speak, but he can express himself," the adoptive mother said yesterday. "Today, when we prepared to travel to give up custody, he didn't want to get into the car. When we returned home, he was very happy."

The case began when the biological mother at an advanced stage of her pregnancy contacted the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs' child services division, informing them that she would not be able to raise the child after his birth since she has no partner. She explained that she had cut off relations with the father, and that he did not even know she was pregnant.

After the birth, the child was taken from the mother, designated as "slated for adoption," and relayed to the childless couple from the center of the country.

Two months after the birth, the biological mother had a change of heart, and expressed a desire to have her child returned to her. After clarifying her rights, the mother learned that the chance of reunion with her son were slim - courts tend not to order that children be returned to their biological parents in such circumstances, over concern that a mother may later ask again that the child be put up for adoption.

The woman the renewed contact with the baby's father, and after the man learned that there was a son but that he had been passed over to adoption, the two biological parents submitted a joint request to the courts for the return of their baby.

The family court appointed a psychologist to assess the biological parents' fitness to raise a child, and the parents received high marks. Labor and Social Affairs experts recommended against taking the baby away from his adoptive parents, but the family court ruled in favor of the biological parents' request.

"The biological mother is just a womb," the brother of the adoptive mother said yesterday. "She can have a child again. My sister cannot...The boy has become my sister's entire world."