Many people in Texas choose to adopt children every year. But when the relationship between an adoptive parent and child gets tough, the parent cannot simply return the child as if he or she was a pet from an animal shelter. One parent who adopted a child from Russia attempted to return her adopted child by placing the child on a return flight with a note attached to his lapel. The woman is now being sued for child support.
A woman from Tennessee who adopted a 7-year-old boy from Russia is being sued by the agency she adopted the child from for child support. The woman put her adopted son on a one-way flight back to Russia and pinned a note to his jacket. The note read, “This child is mentally unstable. He is violent and has severe psychopathic issues.” In addition the note read, “After giving my best to this child, I am sorry to say that for the safety of my family, friends and myself, I no longer wish to parent this child . . . As he is a Russian National, I am returning him to your guardianship and would like the adoption disannulled.”
The woman’s attempt to severe parental rights failed, and the mother is being sued for child support by the adoption agency. The World Association for Children and Parents, the international adoption agency the mother used, argues the mother should pay 27 percent of her nurse’s salary as child support. The adoption agency is also requesting back pay of child support for the previous year.
The woman’s actions made headlines in 2010 and were the impetus for the country of Russia to prohibit U.S. citizens from adopting Russian children for almost one year. Russian officials are also watching the developments of the case.
The adoption agency also wants to make sure that the mother’s actions do not set a precedent for the annulment of an adoption. The adoption agency argues that transporting a child like a package is not a proper way to annul an adoption.
The child is currently in an orphanage and so far no criminal charges have been brought against the woman.
Source: The Tennessean, “Shelbyville woman who sent boy back to Russia gets sued,” Jennifer Brooks, Oct. 27, 2011