Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 2, 1993 TAG: 9308020047
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ANN ARBOR, MICH. LENGTH: Medium
The DeBoers fought for more than two years to keep the child they once tried to adopt, but a court ordered them to turn Jessica over to her biological parents today.
A visit Saturday from the girl's biological parents, Daniel and Cara Schmidt, prompted Roberta DeBoer to leave her house in tears.
"I just can't stand to be in there," she said.
The Schmidts visited their daughter again Sunday. The meetings over the past three weeks were intended to ease her move to their home in Blairstown, Iowa.
The visits were the first time Daniel Schmidt saw his daughter and the first time Cara Schmidt saw her since shortly after giving birth Feb. 8, 1991.
Both sides tried to keep the time and place of the transfer secret. They also were under a court order not to speak to reporters.
The Schmidts have arranged for a therapist to help in the transition if necessary, said their attorney, Marian Faupel. They also will call her Jessica, at least for a while, although they had named her Anna.
Schmidt, then unmarried, gave the child up for adoption and named the wrong man as father. Shortly afterward she changed her mind and informed Schmidt of his paternity. They then began trying to get the baby back.
The Schmidts were married in April 1992 and had another daughter, Chloe, in June.
The DeBoers, who have no other children, planned to adopt Jessica, but that fell apart when Schmidt changed her mind about giving up the child.
Although they acknowledged they could never adopt Jessica, the DeBoers argued they should be granted custody because they were the only parents she had ever known.
Iowa courts said Daniel Schmidt never gave up his parental rights and Cara Schmidt did so only under duress. The Michigan Supreme Court ordered the Iowa court ruling enforced on grounds Michigan courts had no authority to hear the case. It set an Aug. 2 deadline for the transfer.
by CNB