Adoption Update 12/12/05

I seem to have difficulty finding something worthwhile to write about on my blog.

Then it hit me, besides the normal stuff going on in my life, we are trying to adopt a 7 month-old boy.

I just found something worth writing about.

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Many of you have asked about our adoption and where are in the process. Shauna and I appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

I am not sure what I have said to whom, so let me fill you in from the beginning. Most dates and times are left off for a couple of reasons. 1) Not important 2) I don’t remember. #2 is actually the real reason. If you've been in the loop from the beginning, skip down to the next set of ++++.

Characters involved:

Braydon, or Braeden or Braedon: 7 ½ month boy (I’m not sure how it’s spelled)
Bryttanie: our niece
Marshall: birth certificate dad (per our niece)
Timothy: biological dad (per our niece)

In July 2005, Shauna and I found out Bryttanie had taken Braedon to stay with Marshall who is currently living with his parents with the understanding she could have him back when she got back on her feet.

Shauna and I approached Bryttanie about us adopting Braedon and she agreed. We contacted a lawyer and started the necessary paperwork. Shauna and Bryttanie went to Marshall’s house to get Braedon and with the intention of Braedon staying at our house during the proceedings. Bryttanie introduced Shauna and said we were going to adopt Braedon. When Marshall’s parents heard this, they refused to let Bryttanie have Braedon. The police were called in, but they were not able to remove Braedon from the house without cause and since Marshall was on the birth certificate and the baby was being cared for. (Frustrating….)

So we had letters sent out to both dads’ with little or no response. On a Friday, I drove to Big Spring and found Timothy. I asked if he would sign the paperwork releasing his rights and responsibilities of being the biological dad. He agreed. We found a notary pubic (funny story, her office is also a Laundromat; we didn’t have trouble finding witnesses. Only in Big Spring, TX) I didn’t go to Big Spring on my own, I asked the lawyer first. I certainly didn’t want to do something that would set us back or delay this process further. Our lawyer was surprised when I returned before noon with the signed papers. OK, so Timothy has signed over his parental rights to Braedon. 1 down, 2 to go. The following Monday, I took Bryttanie to the laywers office and she signed over her rights. 2 down in 2 days, I was feeling good about our progress. We had Marshall served with our adoption petition. He had somewhere between 21-27 days to respond. So on October 31st, the last day to respond, Marshall's lawyer submitted a response to contest our adoption. Working through his lawyer, we setup a date with the court to request DNA testing, Marshall did not contest this request so a date was set for the following Thursday (just 3 days after this court hearing) Marshall's dad took Braedon and Bryttanie showed up, but Marshall did not.

The week of Thanksgiving (Monday) our lawyer received a copy of a motion submitted by Marshall's lawyer requesting permission to drop him as a client (presumably for failure to show up at the lab and/or contact his lawyer). That motion was granted the next week. Our lawyer sent a letter directly to Marshall requesting he contact our lawyer's office or go to the lab by Dec. 5th. He did neither.

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The week of Dec. 5th, our lawyer was preparing paperwork to be served to Marshall personally. As it was explained to us, the judge would give the benefit of the doubt that Marshall's lawyer did not inform him of his responsibility to be at the lab at a certain time.

We are serving Marshall this week to appear before the court on Monday, Dec. 19th to explain to the judge why he did not go to the lab as directed. (He has 3 days to appear after he is sucessfully served) IF, Marshall does not appear on Dec. 19th, we will request the judge to offer a default judgement and grant us our petition.

Again, thanks for your prayers. Keep checking back here for updates.