| |
Hello
- I am a natural mother whose child was abducted by the system
in 1999. My daughter was born prematurely at 30 weeks
and I was very ill with toxemia and prenclampsia. After I gave
birth through an emergency c-section, my family and I had several
terrible fights about what I should do. They thought I
should put the baby up for adoption and I did not want to, I
was going to keep her. As I have been raising her older
brother by myself, I was going to keep her as well. She
is my treasure just as her brother is, and in my heart I knew
that I could do no less. I asked the agency my parents
had contacted to back off, and that they were pressuring me,
but that didn't happen.
The
director of the agency is friends with my mother and so rather
than doing as I asked and leaving me alone, they with my
parents' help faked my signature on the relinquishment papers.
I took the matter to court in September after much argument
with the agency about the validity of my signature but they
didn't care nor did they care that the couple they put my
daughter with lives only 5 minutes from my home. The judge
only let me present a small amount of my evidence. I
had to represent myself as I could not find an attorney in
our town to represent me at all in the matter, since they
were either friends of the agency's director or they had been
contacted by the adoptive couple.
So
on September 9, 1999, my child was abducted by the system
and I was told to let this nice married couple have my child.
I tried to appeal but that didn't work either, no one would
listen, no one cared about the truth or that something very
wrong had occurred.
Up
until recently, I just existed. I hurt so much
that I didn't know if I had the will to live. I got
lucky though and met someone wonderful and we married and
now have a son who is 4 months old, and that eases a little
of the pain but it also magnifies it as well as I think of
all the firsts I missed and will miss. I am trying to
heal what is left of me so that I can help someone and keep
them from making the mistakes I made and showing them that
they can keep from having to adopt their child out to someone
else. I so much want to also work to reform the system
to get rid of agencies like the one that stole my baby and
institute waiting periods in all states so that a natural
mother can change her mind as is her right. I sincerely hope
my story will help someone and show them that they are not
alone.
A
Continuation of my Story:
Hi
All - You were kind enough to publish my story on your website
and there is more now. For the last year I have been trying
to get pictures and updates of my daughter with no success,
then I was told by the adoption agency that on her 2nd birthday
I would have pictures. Well, Saturday was her birthday and
I still have no pictures. In the meantime ABORN
an adoption activism group is going to publish my story and
I am going to be interviewed on The
Don and Carla Show about my story on July 28th
and August 7th (2001). My story still does not have
a happy ending and I don't know that it ever will but at least
I am not giving up the fight.
Sincerely,
Brandy Bottini-Elkins
Life Mother of Amberlie Jeanette 06-23-99
|
|
