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brandnu · Feb 27, 2007, 05:40 PM

Hello.

3 Years ago my sister became pregnant with her child. She was 17 years old and the boyfriend she had at the time did not want to assume responsibility, himself being 17 as well.

My parents opted to adopt her son and give him their military benefits, it was solely for that purpose but for some reason I always felt a bit fishy about it.

I believe they printed out another birth certificate saying they were the biological parents of the child.

It has been 3 1/2 years since then. The child has been raised by my sister this entire time, but my parents have not been supportive like I once believed they would be.

They have been blackmailing my sister. They have been making her pay for their telephone bill and car insurance bill. Not to mention they made her co-sign on a house for them because she had excellent credit. They never paid for the house because they could not afford it, they were making her give up all her pay for the house but she could not do it. The house is now on foreclosure. If she refused to do all this they said they would take the child away from her. She lives in Northern California and they live in Southern California. Recently they came down here and threatened to take the child away, they said they would call the police and tell them she kidnapped the child from them. They are doing this because they do not like her current boyfriend who has been there pretty much since the child's birth. My parents have been acting very psychotic. They are older, in their 60's and are both disable.. currently retired and living off their social security checks, not to mention taking all the tax money from my sisters child and never giving her a dime of it since the child's birth. They are totally unstable, still mourning the loss of my brother from 4 years ago. They keep saying that my sisters child is somehow their child that they lost. They are not in their right mind, it is very sad to see.

My sister has a job, goes to school and takes care of her child. Her boyfriend goes to school and works as well. They are currently living together but are very afraid that my parents will show up when only the babysitter is home and take the child away. They have threatened them to do this on many occasions but it has gotten very serious the past week.

My question is: Can my sister gain custody of her child and end this nightmare?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance and god bless!

tinsign · Feb 27, 2007, 06:20 PM

She needs a lawyer for legal matters in the case, I hope she has the original birth certificate. They can also do a dna test so as far as that goes it will prove they are not the child's biological parents. If she doesn't have the birth certificate she can get it either from records of births department or from the hospital if they still have it there on file. She can also pretty much show to the courts that she has been the one supporting them all this time. MAKE SURE she gets the lawyer first thing to file for harassment and blackmail, hopefully she does have proof of that as well. As far as claiming she kidnapped their child well that is outlandish and they don't have a leg to stand on in any court. Hopefully she didn't sign custody over to them. Tell her to try to get some of these accusations and blackmails on tape for evidence this is a serious charge they are facing if she can prove it. Also if you are on your own and can backup any of these things that were said it would help your sister.

ScottGem · Feb 27, 2007, 06:24 PM

I agree, she needs an attorney. If the child has been living with her all this time, then she can probably overturn the adoption. But this is tangled and she needs an attorney to untangle it.

brandnu · Feb 27, 2007, 06:43 PM

Thank You guys so much for your quick responses.

I have been very concerned over this issue the past week. It is very stressful, almost like a soap opera, it seems.

It just hurts to see my sister cry and get so stressed over this matter when she has done nothing wrong. She has been a great mother and she does not deserve this.

We will see what we can do to get an attorney. My only fear is that they would put the child in foster care or something of that nature. I mean, they did adopt the child from her but she is the biological mother even though she does not recall if they put themselves (my parents) as biological parents when the process was done. She was very young and not very knowledgeable of what she was doing.

She recalls my mother asking the attorney if this could be overturned and the attorney said "no". She then recalls my mother smirking.

I was not present when this happened but that is what she remembers.

brandnu · Feb 27, 2007, 06:44 PM

By the way,

She has no paperwork whatsoever from the adoption process.

My father has it all.

ScottGem · Feb 27, 2007, 06:57 PM

She can go to the court or adoption agency to get copies.

tinsign · Feb 27, 2007, 07:22 PM

She might also be able to get a free lawyer from if she cannot afford one. Have her check in her area such as family independent agencies, hope, or churches one of them should be able to steer her in the right direction of obtaining a free legal aid.

Fr_Chuck · Feb 27, 2007, 07:36 PM

First if the child was adopted the state would have issued a new birth certificate showing your parents as the child's parents, that is how adoption works, all of the paperwork looks just like the adoptive paretns are the birth parents,

Next it is a maybe, but she will have to file in family court on some reason to get the adoption overturned.

It could be up to even which judge you get, a liberal or non liberal judge, and so on. A local attorney can best answer that.

And actually no one forces another person to be "blackmailed" they allow thierself to be by giving in andnot reporting the other people on their action.

tinsign · Feb 27, 2007, 07:42 PM

I did not realise as I was answering that she signed away her rights as parent and they adopted her legally. In that case yes do as Fr_chuck advised.

s_cianci · Mar 12, 2007, 06:38 PM

If your parents adopted her son then they are the legal parents. It's the legal, not necessarily biological, parents who are listed on a birth certificate. Your sister may be able to regain custody if she can prove that your parents have acted with malicious and/or fraudulent intent. It'll be an uphill battle. She needs to start with a good family attorney.

FrOsT_bItE · Jun 5, 2007, 12:10 AM

Originally Posted by brandnu

Hello.

3 Years ago my sister became pregnant with her child. She was 17 years old and the boyfriend she had at the time did not want to assume responsibility, himself being 17 as well.

My parents opted to adopt her son and give him their military benefits, it was solely for that purpose but for some reason I always felt a bit fishy about it.

I believe they printed out another birth certificate saying they were the biological parents of the child.

It has been 3 1/2 years since then. The child has been raised by my sister this entire time, but my parents have not been supportive like I once believed they would be.

They have been blackmailing my sister. They have been making her pay for their telephone bill and car insurance bill. Not to mention they made her co-sign on a house for them because she had excellent credit. They never paid for the house because they could not afford it, they were making her give up all her pay for the house but she could not do it. The house is now on foreclosure. If she refused to do all this they said they would take the child away from her. She lives in Northern California and they live in Southern California. Recently they came down here and threatened to take the child away, they said they would call the police and tell them she kidnapped the child from them. They are doing this because they do not like her current boyfriend who has been there pretty much since the childs birth. My parents have been acting very psychotic. They are older, in their 60's and are both disable..currently retired and living off their social security checks, not to mention taking all the tax money from my sisters child and never giving her a dime of it since the childs birth. They are totally unstable, still mourning the loss of my brother from 4 years ago. They keep saying that my sisters child is somehow their child that they lost. They are not in their right mind, it is very sad to see.

My sister has a job, goes to school and takes care of her child. Her boyfriend goes to school and works as well. They are currently living together but are very afraid that my parents will show up when only the babysitter is home and take the child away. They have threatened them to do this on many occasions but it has gotten very serious the past week.

My question is: Can my sister gain custody of her child and end this nightmare?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance and god bless!

If you think that the people you are staying with have printed out a birth certificate of their own, then ask them if you can see it. If it is, then I'm sorry to say that there's nothing you can do. Once they have signed those papers, the baby is there's. If you take it to the police or have a family feud over it, it'll only get worse.