Adoption Case Brings Rare Family Law Dispute To High Court

[serendipity_15]

Take the usual agony of an adoption dispute. Add in the disgraceful U.S. history of ripping Indian children from their Native American families. Mix in a dose of initial fatherly abandonment. And there you have it - a poisonous and painful legal cocktail that goes before the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday

Comments

[chaya]

The act being cited was put in place for a very good reason. This guy's case is not it. Respect the wishes of the mother - not the man who walked out on her.

[romp]

Are you saying that the act should be followed--it exists for good reason, as you said--or the wishes of the mother--adoption agency--should be followed?

[bestdaywelived]

The Act was put in place because Native children were being stolen from their families and placed in non-Native homes, not to protect loser men who impregnate women and then don't want to pay for their children.

[romp]

Yeah. And? He changed his mind, he grew up, whatever. The bottom line is that aboriginal children should be raised by aboriginal people, ideally in their own tribe. That's not a historic remnant--there's plenty of study of this regarding international and intercultural adoption.

[recorded]

Does this override the mother's rights/wishes though?

[romp]

Yes, that's my understanding. ICWA

Obviously, this case is a clusterfuck but I don't like this attack on the ICWA. If you get a chance, you should try to read more of the comments about the case, like how the attorney is attacking this protections (and others, I believe).

[ginger_maya]

And when he changes his mind again? How do you even know he's grown up? He's already proven that he's flaky.

[thenakedcat]

If he changes his mind again, his mother is already helping him care for the child. Under the ICWA, she's first in line for custody, then more distant relatives, then other members of the same tribe. There IS a procedure to handle this, it was DESIGNED to deal with just this kind of situation.

[ginger_maya]

Right, because the whims of one flaky male are more important than the interest of a child to have a stable home and permanent parents.

[thenakedcat]

Unfortunately, the mother kind of screwed the kid over in that respect, when she decided to go forward with an illegal adoption. The judicial precedent on illegal adoption is "We do not reward those who commit fraud to obtain custody, whether the child has been with them long enough to bond or not. Because otherwise kidnappers could have a legal claim to a child who developed Stockholm Syndrome." It is a harsh rule, it is one that gets debated a lot in legal ethics classes. But it is the state of the law. Veronica could have had a stable permanent adoption the first time around if the tribe had been properly consulted. Unfortunately, the adults around her screwed that up.

[ginger_maya]

Did you just compare that woman to a kidnapper? And the man signed the papers giving up his parental rights on his own, no ONE forced him to do so. He also abandoned his child via a text message. Frankly, screwed over by the adults or not, the child's best interests are still the most important thing, period. Not matter how many times your MRA ass tries to turn this argument onto its head living with a man capable of abandoning her in such a callous manner will NEVER be in her best interest. Period.

[romp]

In placement of Indian children, the act allows adoption priority to be given in the order of the child's extended family, the child's tribe members, and then to Indian families in general. (paraphrase of ICWA)

I'd prefer to see more support for parents and fewer seizures of children but if the father decided he didn't want to parent, there's a process in place.

[ginger_maya]

I am sure it'll be in the best interests of that child to grow up with her own people...regardless of how many times the individuals taking care of her foist her off to other people just when she got used to the last.

[yeats]

yeah, but the mother could have still put the kid up for adoption without breaking the law:

To combat the dire situation, ICWA established a chain of adoptive preferences for children with Indian heritage. In the event that neither parent could take custody, other Indian family members were to have priority, and after that, tribal adoptive parents.

i think the dad is an asshole, but it's still the type of situation that the ICWA was designed to counteract.

[thenakedcat]

YES THIS THIS THIS. THE ACT HAS PROVISIONS TO DEAL WITH SUCH SITUATIONS. The Native family members and the tribe HAVE to be given a fair chance to find a place for the kid WITHIN THE TRIBE before the adoption agency can look elsewhere. I do NOT have a helluva lot of sympathy for the actual father in the case but THIS IS HOW TRIBES LOST THEIR CHILDREN FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS. THE TRIBE DOES HAVE RIGHTS IN THIS SITUATION.

[fightingwords]

Pretty much.