The Rush to Terminate Parental Rights in Illinois

Birthmother gets the shaft again. The Appellate Court of Illinois upheld the dismissal of a birth mother’s petition to revoke or void her consent to adoption.

See the 8-page-pdf at Illinois November 7 2012 .

The case involves what consitutes “duress.”

It says “Emily’s allegations of duress are limited to the two to three hours prior to the signing of the surrender. Emily alleges that her duress began with a telephone call from the baby’s father, wherein he threatened to leave her, including her fear that she would not get home before he left.

Emily alleges that Catholic Charities was a party to the duress because they witnessed it and allowed her to sign the surrender. The defendants argue that Emily’s allegations of duress by Catholic Charities were conclusory and unsupported by allegations of specific facts.

¶ 18 Although there may be some extreme exceptions, generally, the fraud or duress necessary to invalidate an otherwise irrevocable consent must have been on the part of the person before whom the surrender was acknowledged.

Regenold v. Baby Fold, Inc., 68 Ill. 2d at 430-31; 750

ILCS 50/11(a) (West 2008). Duress is where one is induced by the wrongful acts or wrongful threats of another to make a contract or perform an act under circumstances that are a deprivation of free will.

Regenold, 68 Ill. 2d at 433-34. Emily clearly attributes her duress to Nathan’s father, and her circumstances. She does not allege any specific duress by Catholic Charities or the adoptive parents. We find nothing in the record that constituted duress on the part ofCatholic Charities, or even by the adoptive parents. Clearly, Emily felt pressured to sign the surrender, but the pressure came from her circumstances and Nathan’s father. Such pressures do not constitute fraud or duress by Catholic Charities nor the adoptive parents.”

Hat tip to a reader for this information and for the comment that sums up the unethical nature of this:

“The caseworkers got his consent and then failed to provide services to the father after that.  Really, they should have tried to counsel them on the relationship after surrender and told her all her options.
No reason they couldn’t have done emergency foster care until the interpersonal crisis past.  Or sought out relatives. ”