Teen dad says adoption agency stands in the way of raising his baby UPDATED
“A teen boy claims his baby is being `legally` stolen by a reputable adoption agency.
He`s fighting to get his child back and has the support of his parents.
Cody Deadmond told us, ‘I may not be ready for it. Who`s ready for a kid at 16-years-old before you even graduate high school.’
Deadmond said he didn’t believe it at first, when his ex-girlfriend told him she was pregnant. He explained, ‘She told me on an instant messaging service, which could`ve been her, could`ve been one of her friends messing with me.’ He added that his ex-girlfriend hid any appearance she was pregnant by wearing sweatshirts and loose fitted clothing.
He continued to deny it until he got a letter from Lutheran Social Services of Illinois. It arrived less than a month before his ex-girlfriend gave birth. It reads ‘…you have been named the father of a child… If you would like to parent this child, you will need to obtain an attorney.’
He decided to fight for his baby. Deadmond said, ‘Just because you`re not raised around a lot of money or around a father who doesn’t have a lot of money doesn’t mean you don`t have the support or motivation and you`re not given the courage.’
His entire family stands behind him, including his mom Angie, who was unavailable for this interview. When his stepfather talked with me, he seemed honest about his emotions. Bo Stell said, ‘I was pretty upset with him, because I wanted everything for him, then he told me `Dad, I can do this.`
They`re thankful the young mom carried the child to term. The birth mother is an 18-year-old who also attends Nashville, IL High School. I talked to her by phone and she declined to talk on camera. Deadmond said she called an adoption service because she wants the baby to have both a mom and a dad.
Deadmond said he arrived at the hospital for the birth February 4th. He showed me a picture of him holding the baby. He said the adoption agency had already placed his child with a family in Rockford, IL.
Deadmond said, ‘It was illegal to send the baby home with me.’ I asked ‘Why?’
Deadmond answered, ‘Their reasoning for that is that they have no legal proof that I`m the father of the baby.’
So Deadmond said he went to get that proof. He said, ‘I`ve taken my DNA. I had to pay $450 to pay for it.’ Meanwhile, he said the adoption agency won`t take the baby for a DNA test. He added, ‘Every time the baby was requested to take a DNA test, they`ve denied it.’
The hearings are North of Chicago, in Rockford, IL where Deadmond`s family hired attorney Lucinda Bugden. She told me, ‘I can`t understand why they`re not just saying ok, lets determine if you`re the father. My concern is, time is on their side. The longer they prolong this, I mean there`s been several court dates in Winnebago county and it`s just been continued. Meanwhile this baby is bonding with these people who have no legal right to this child.’
Stepdad Stell said, ‘We`re going to keep fighting for him and get him home.’
I asked Deadmond, ‘What do you want this baby to know when he`s old enough to understand?’ He answered, ‘That I was there for him and that I fought for him as much as I could whether I get him or not and that I care about him.’
We found out after our interviews that Deadmond is also expecting another child with a different girl. The baby is due in September. I talked today with that young girl and she told me she supports Deadmond in his fight for his other baby.
Lutheran Social Services response could not address specific questions because this is a private adoption. A spokesperson said the agency has `facilitated thousands of adoptions and it encourages the public to `look at its track record.` The spokesperson added that
Lutheran Social Services has been around for 140 years and would not be able to survive if it did not follow `the letter of the law.`”
Teen dad says adoption agency stands in the way of raising his baby[Fox 2 now 4/28/14 by Chris Hayes]
Reporter Chris Hayes asked, ‘Did it ever cross your mind, `I can`t do this?`’
Cody answered, ‘No, never crossed my mind.’
Cody Deadmond said he went to the hospital after his ex-girlfriend gave birth. He described holding the baby when he talked about, ‘…looking at him smiling. Whenever the nurses or anybody else tried holding him he would start crying.’
Though Deadmond says he wants to raise his child, he failed to notify what`s called the Illinois Putative Father Registry. You have 30 days to register after a birth. 16-year-old Deadmond said he and his family didn`t know such a registry existed. His baby was born February 4th and Deadmond put in his name about two weeks late.
He`s since hired attorney Lucinda Bugden who said, ‘(Deadmond and his family) went to a lawyer, not me, who didn`t give them the right advice and now he didn`t register within the 30 day period.’
The potential adoptive parents of Deadmond`s baby are north of Chicago in Rockford, IL, where attorney Bugden practices. She added, ‘(Cody) wants to be a father, he wants to step up. There`s no reason to think this child can`t be healthy and loved by the father and his family.’
Though Deadmond missed the deadline to register as a father, his stepdad explained how his son showed the right intentions. Bo Stell said, ‘(by getting) the DNA first. Prove the baby`s yours and he did that right away as soon as we got the (notification from the adoption agency) we had the DNA ready to go.’
Now they say the adoption agency won`t get the baby DNA tested. We spoke to Loyolla University Chicago Professor Bruce Boyer is also a child welfare attorney. He said, ‘If a child ends up feeling like their adoptive parents took them away from biological family members that wanted to care for them and fought for them and would`ve been capable of caring for them that can end up being very detrimental.’
Deadmond says he can care for his baby, but friends of the birth mother told Fox 2 about another baby Deadmond`s expecting, with another High School girl. Deadmond says he can raise both kids, with his family`s help.
I asked Professor Boyer about people`s temptation to judge. He answered, ‘I don`t think you can ever say categorically that one set of circumstances is going to lead to a better outcome than another and we also know that as kids get older, it becomes increasingly important for them to know something about their biological families.
That means it could end up being very important to this child to know his father fought for him, no matter the outcome and also important for him to learn that his mother sought an adoption agency because she believed it could give her child the best possible life.”
Why Teen Dad Must Fight Adoption Agency for His Child[Fox 2 now 4/30/14 by Chris Hayes]
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Update: Hat tip to a reader!
“A Judge appears to have ordered silence in the case of a teen Dad who claims an adoption agency ‘legally stole’ his baby. The 16-year-old father says he can raise his baby, with the help of his family, but claims an adoption system and the courts are making it nearly impossible. FOX2 went to Rockford, Illinois, where a Judge appears to have made his fight even harder.
Just before the 8:30 am hearing, an attorney for the adoptive parents told reporter Chris Hayes that he was going to ask the Judge to silence everybody.
A Court Administrator said reporters were not allowed in the Courtroom for the hearing. About 30 minutes later, 16-year-old Cody Deadmond walked out of the courthouse with his family. His Mom Angie was in tears. It was a sign they`d been told to stop talking about Cody`s fight for his child.
In April, Cody claimed an adoption agency withheld information about a father`s registry Cody should`ve contacted immediately. Cody also said the agency told the birth mother to leave Cody’s name off of the child`s birth certificate.
Now Cody and his family may risk jail time if they keep talking.
In April I asked Cody, ‘What do you want this baby to know when he`s old enough to understand?’
Cody answered, ‘That I was there for him and that I fought for him as much as I could whether I get him or not. And that I care about him.’
Their attorney Lucinda Bugden carefully answered me after the hearing when I asked, ‘Can you tell me what happened?’
Bugden answered, ‘No, unfortunately I cannot.’
Hayes followed up, ‘Does that mean there was a gag order?’
Bugden said, ‘Typically juvenile proceedings, adoption proceedings, are subject to a privacy and I just can`t provide details at this point.’
Bugden said she`s only faced two gag orders in 20 years of practice. She told us during a previous interview that she has concerns about how prolonged court proceedings could impact the child.
In April, Bugden said, ‘A Guardian Ad Litem has been appointed here in Winnebago County, but nothing`s been done on the case because as soon as I was retained I talked to him. He hasn`t talked to anybody and meanwhile this baby is bonding with these people who have no legal right to this child.’
Now it appears some kind of silence order prohibits Bugden from even telling us the next court date.[!!!]
Bugden added, ‘If there`s a court order, I have to comply with it and advise my clients to do the same. it`s not an option.’
Though it`s impossible to know for sure, it does not appear that anything happened other than the judge`s order for everyone to keep quiet. There will be another hearing in Rockford IL and we will try to keep track of developments by asking the Deadmonds about their future road trips.”
Judge orders silence from teen dad who`s fighting for his baby[Fox 2 now 5/7/14 by Chris Hayes]
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