Estes man, 47, wins bid to annul his 1952 adoption
Fort Collins Coloradoan (CO)
Author: Jenn Farrell; Coloradoan staff Fort Collins Coloradoan
Michael Chalek says that now he's just like everyone else because public records reflect his real identity.
Last month, a Florida judge ruled that Chalek's 1952 adoption - in which his adoptive parents paid a baby broker $200 for him - should be annulled and that Chalek should have a new birth certificate with his birth mother's name on it.
Alachua County Circuit Judge Maurice Giunta said, however, that the issue of terminating parental rights was moot, since Alex and Adela Chalek, Michael Chalek's adoptive parents, are dead.
A gag order placed on the case until paperwork was completed prevented Cha-lek from speaking about the decision.
But on Monday, Chalek, 47, was free to talk about the case.
The Estes Park man sued last year to have the adoption annulled after learning that his adoption was fraudulent.
Chalek's birth mother was coerced into using a fictitious name, and his adoptive parents did not report some of their previous marriages or histories of violence when they adopted him.
Chalek and his attorney, Mallory Horne, presented evidence of the past marriages and abuses. One of the exhibits showed that Alex Chalek struck his first wife in the face, bruising her, and that he abandoned her.
Adoption annulments are rare and generally are sought by parents this is believed to be the first time a new birth certificate will be issued, adoption experts have said.
"The Court does not make this finding carelessly," Giunta wrote in his decision. "In the instant case, the adoptive parents abused this privilege and instead caused profound harm to the adoptee."
He also wrote that had Chalek's adoptive parents told the truth during the adoption, it would not have gone through.
Chalek has said that he never felt close to Alex and Adela Chalek and that they abused him physically, mentally and sexually.
He said his adoptive parents treated him like they owned him and showed his brother, who was their birth child, preferential treatment. When they died, they left Chalek $1.
Chalek said he feels he was "bought and sold like a piece of meat."
The judge's decision brings some mental closure, Chalek said.
He also said he hopes this isn't just a victory for him.
"On a much larger scale, I hope that I have enabled, on a legal platform here, for other adoptees to have access to their records," Chalek said.
But this isn't the end of the work Chalek has put into discovering who his family is.
Currently, all Chalek has left of his half-sister, Carol Jean Wag-ner, is the picture of a curly-haired 3-year-old in a polka-dot dress. He's hoping to find her. He said she most likely was given up for adoption.
With the help of a private investigator, he has come up with a list of 92 people who have the same birthdate and first name as his half-sister. He's planning to call the people this week in hopes of finding her.
Interested?
For more details, check out http://www.adoption-fraud.com which is Michael Chalek's Web site.
Coloradoan library
WINNING HIS CASE: A Florida court has sided with Michael Chalek of Estes Park who sued to have his adoption annulled after learning he was sold as a baby for $200 in Gainesville, Fla.