
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, August 6, 1993                   TAG: 9308060086
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SARASOTA, FLA.                                LENGTH: Short

GIRL TAKES STAND, PLEADS TO BE FREE OF PARENTS

Kimberly Mays made a tearful plea Thursday to free herself from her biological parents, breaking down as she told about the day five years ago when she found out she was switched at birth.

"My dad sat me down outside on the porch . . . and he said these people say I was their biological daughter," Kimberly said in a calm voice. "I started crying and I said, `Daddy, don't let them take me away.' "

Then the blond, hazel-eyed 14-year-old bowed her head and sobbed: "It still brings tears to my eyes."

Across the packed courtroom, the man who raised Kimberly since birth, Robert Mays, turned and stared at the birth parents who are seeking to be a part of the girl's life.

Ernest and Regina Twigg sat stone-faced and held hands.

"I don't want anything to do with them," Kimberly said after regaining her composure. "I want them out of my life. I want my life back."

Kimberly's testimony capped the fourth day of a trial in which the ninth-grader is seeking to cut all ties to the Twiggs and preserve her life with Mays, the man she has lived with since the 1978 baby swap at a rural Florida hospital.

Circuit Judge Stephen Dakan must decide whether to grant Kimberly's wish or allow the Twiggs visitation.

by CNB