Another adoption fight to untangle

BRUCE VIELMETTI

St. Petersburg Times

Another contested infant adoption has become news, and the public instinctively takes sides.

One says Kara, barely a month old, should stay with Donald and Christine Carr, the Tampa couple who have cared for the baby almost since her birth.

The other thinks Kara belongs to her natural father, William Jardina of Texas, who says he never consented to Kara's adoption and wants to raise her himself, even if he is only 17.

Since the story broke last week, only Jardina has spoken at length about the case. Details are sparse, and a judge will ultimately decide Kara's fate.

But her plight points up the potential risks and complications of adoption, a process that can bring joy and fulfillment or cause wrenching loss.

"The facts are really going to call the issue," said Tampa adoption attorney Martha Weed.

Kara's mother, 19-year-old Stacy Goss, apparently did consent to place her child with the Carrs. Neither Goss, her family or their attorney has commented. The Carrs' attorney, Anthony Marchese of Tampa, will not talk either, so no one knows yet why the Carrs got Kara before Jardina's consent was obtained.

One known fact is that Jardina refused to sign legal documents terminating his parental rights. Without his consent, the only way the Carrs can prevail, experts said Friday, is to convince a judge Jardina has abandoned Kara.

Although Jardina talks of exactly the opposite, adoption lawyers in both Florida and Texas say there may be grounds to end his rights against his will.

"Did he pay maternity costs? For the doctor? For mom's vitamins?" Weed said. "Where was he the whole nine months of pregnancy?"

Weed said it is quite common for fathers, especially teens, to shirk those duties, "then at the last moment, see a cute baby and decide they want to assert parental rights."

One factor in persuading a judge to terminate Jardina's rights would be the child's best interest.

"It's tough for kids who are 17 to look for other people's best interest," Weed said. "Part of being 17 is being selfish."

Donald Royall, a Houston lawyer who has done adoptions for 30 years, said Texas has the same provisions.

"Sure, there are a number of involuntary grounds for termination" of a biological parent's rights, Royall said. "But you give him an opportunity, in court. You don't do it by just saying it's so."

"The purpose is not to deprive fathers of the right to raise children they sired," said Michael Brown, a St. Petersburg lawyer specializing in adoption.

"It's only to terminate rights of those who have not demonstrated a willingness to undertake the responsibilities of fatherhood."

Other facts might cut against the Carrs. Any technical error in compliance with the Interstate Child Placement Compact could nullify the adoption, said Royall, who was surprised at how soon the Carrs had Kara in their home.

Brown and Weed said very few birth parents change their minds about a planned adoption, especially when a reputable attorney or placement agency does the right homework.

Royall said there are probably 100 cases like Jardina's every year in Houston, but that most rightly remain very private matters.

When a planned adoption is derailed by a birth parent, the child often winds up, in effect, being raised by grandparents, who often get blamed for influencing the birth parents to change their minds.

"Usually, it's the father's mother, who many times wants to revisit her youth or recognizes the value of family and doesn't want to let a member go," said Weed.

Jardina insists he is acting on his own desire, without pressure from his family. Kara is his mother's first grandchild.

Brown expects more adoption challenges because of publicity over cases such as Kara and Jessica, the 2-year-old recently ordered back to her birth parents after living with another couple who was trying to adopt her.

"It's creating the belief on part of people who've placed children, that they may have the right to come back and get them," Brown said.

"Most people who place kids, it's a difficult time ... they want to put it behind them, move on. Not that they forget ... but it's a closure thing."