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Carrie fountain · Dec 13, 2013, 08:28 AM

My daughter was taken 3 years ago from myself and my husband by the Department of Social Services here in N.C. She was adopted by my husband's aunt and uncle. We have no contact with her. Our rights were terminated.

Now, she is being abused and neglected by them. I am a good mom who just got addicted to drugs, and am clean and sober for almost 2 years now. I want to know what to do about this, and if I can fight for custody?

She wants to be with me. She's 11 years old.

J_9 · Dec 13, 2013, 08:33 AM

You report the abuse to CPS. However, with that said, you will not be able to get custody of her since your rights have been terminated. She will most likely be placed in foster care if the abuse is proven.

ScottGem · Dec 13, 2013, 09:14 AM

The chances of your overturning the adoption are very slim. Adoptions are generally final. But Social Services does like to place children with family. If you can convince them you are clean and a good parent, the court MIGHT consider restoring your rights.

It's a long shot and you will need an attorney to guide you, but I would not give up on it. Right now the child is the most important consideration. If she is being abused, you want to get her out of that environment.

stinawords · Dec 13, 2013, 09:34 AM

If you have no contact then how do you know she wants to live with you? That generally requires some form of contact. It is very hard and extremely rare for a court to over turn a legal adoption. Those are not taken lightly. If you are worried about her then call CPS to have them investigate. They can then take their findings to the appropriate people if she needs to be removed.

J_9 · Dec 13, 2013, 09:48 AM

Scott, I beg to differ slightly having family that works in the court system as an advocate for children. The OP was an addict and given ample chances to turn her life around prior to termination. She did not comply so rights were terminated.

While I applauded the OP for being clean for 2 years, the OP was probably required to meet certain criteria in order to keep her child. This criteria can take as long as two or more years before rights are permanently terminated. Two years clean is a drop in the bucket.

Yes, the child may be placed with other family, if removed, but it appears that there is a common thread of abuse and/or neglect in this family. In this case the court would be more in favor of removing the child to an unrelated more stable family.

ScottGem · Dec 13, 2013, 10:05 AM

Stin makes good paint about how she knows the child wants to be with her. And I missed being clean only 2 years.

I still think she should give it a try, but is a very long shot.

J_9 · Dec 13, 2013, 10:11 AM

Depending on the location it's a very long shot. My MIL is a CASA. I am very familiar with how this works. Once terminated, and in this case drugs, the child/ren would not be placed back into the custody of the original offending family. I recently had to go to court on a similar case. The only difference was that the child involved was a newborn.