Who should get the child?

[BurtWorm]

Poll question: Who should get the child?

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/02/national/02CUST.html


March 2, 2004
Chinese and American Cultures Clash in Custody Battle for Girl
By ANDREW JACOBS

MEMPHIS, Feb. 27 — Armed with baby pictures and tearful indignation, the two couples come to court each day with their lawyers and supporters aligned on either side of the cherry-paneled chambers. For five years, Jack and Casey He and Jerry and Louise Baker have been tussling over a child who was born to the Hes, but who ended up with the Bakers for what both sides initially agreed was a temporary arrangement.

The Hes say their daughter was "kidnapped by white Christians" who have been using their wealth and the courts to their advantage. The Bakers say the birth parents are unstable and abdicated their parental rights by failing to provide child support or to visit their daughter for months on end.

Although the couples signed papers describing the setup as temporary, the Bakers say there was a separate verbal agreement giving them permanent custody of the child, a contention the birth parents deny. "Why would we visit our daughter every week if we wanted to give her away?" Mrs. He asked tearfully.

The Hes are facing a deportation order for unrelated reasons, but have been allowed to stay in the country until the custody dispute is resolved...

<More details at the link>

[hippiechick]

1. Sounds like a pissing contest

... between two selfish sets of adults with their own agendas.
Neither - at least in the article snip - made any mention of the child or her happiness and welfare.


:hippie:

[Bunny]

2. Aren't verbal agreements worth the paper they're written on?

Or something like that?

[BurtWorm]

3. You'd think so!

Sounds like a Chinese version of the Elian Gonzalez case.

[RobinA]

4. Don't Know

I'd need WAY more information before deciding. Legally the bio parents probably have the rights, but that doesn't mean that's what's in the child's best interest. We don't know enough.