MOM RECALLS DAY SHE GAVE UP BABY

TEARS IN COURTROOM AS SHE TESTIFIES IN SUIT AGAINST AGENCIES

Ted Bell

SACRAMENTO BEE

Lea Tyler Darrah on Thursday told of almost two weeks of physical pain and unbending pressure, and then of the moment in a Davis office when she relinquished custody of her 20-day-old daughter, Michelle.

In a non-jury trial before Yolo County Superior Court Judge William Lebov, Darrah testified that while others in the room were beaming and taking pictures, she and the infant's father clutched each other, sobbing uncontrollably.

Lebov, seeing misty eyes among the audience, lawyers and media representatives, ordered a recess as Darrah neared the end of two days' testimony in her suit against the Children's Home Society of California and the Davis Crisis Pregnancy Center.

Darrah, then an unmarried, 19-year-old freshman at the University of California, Davis, gave birth to her daughter on the floor of her dormitory bathroom in April 1991.

She and Matthew Darrah, the baby's father, are asking the judge to declare the relinquishment document they signed invalid. They claim they were the victims of a high-pressure effort by the pregnancy center, a subsidiary of the Christian Action Council, and the Children's Home Society. The couple claim the two agencies have used similar tactics before.

Outside the courtroom, Marie Sheahan Brown, director of the pregnancy center, said the center wanted to help Lea and Matthew Darrah get Michelle back.

"Despite the accusations, our loyalty remains with our former clients," Brown said. "When they changed their minds about the adoption, we were willing and prepared to help them get Michelle back. They opted, instead, to name us as defendants in this lawsuit, which has been painful to endure.

"Nevertheless," she said, "we will not forsake Lea and Matt, but neither will we lie for them."

Lea Darrah testified Thursday about constant daily pressure from counselors from both agencies. She said they insisted that her parents, under heavy pressure from failing finances and her grandmother's grave illness, would hate Michelle. She said they told her she was sinful and selfish.

She testified that when she asked Children's Home Society counselor Dee Heszler what her rights were, Heszler replied:

"Lea, you chose this. You chose to have your baby in a dormitory bathroom and now you want her back."