Baby Boy of Romanian Sex Worker to be Adopted By British Family

22/02/2017


Family judges always have the welfare of children uppermost in their minds and their nationality makes not a jot of difference to that approach. In one case that proved the point, the High Court sanctioned adoption of a baby boy who was relinquished soon after his birth by his Romanian sex worker mother.

The mother had been trafficked into the UK by an abusive partner and was suffering from sepsis when she presented herself at a hospital. She was pregnant and her son was born, 13 weeks prematurely, by emergency Caesarean section. She swiftly relinquished the child and said that she did not want her family in Romania to be told about the birth. She had not signed formal adoption papers before returning to her homeland with the assistance of a charity.

The child was placed in the care of a local authority that tracked down his mother and wider family in Romania. They stated that they wished him to be brought up in Britain. However, after the Romanian Consulate was also notified, it objected to the child’s adoption and argued that he should be repatriated.

In ruling that it had jurisdiction to consider the matter, the Court found that the boy, who was still only about six months old, was habitually resident in the UK, never having known any other country. Three British families had expressed an interest in adopting him and that outcome would offer him enormous advantages in life. In a safe and stable environment, he would have the opportunity to form lifelong bonds with an alternative family who would claim him as their own in every sense. The Court authorised the council to place the boy for adoption.

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