Show THE ADOPTED CHILD N OHIO court has rl ruled cd that a mother who A AN voluntarily gives up her claim to her baby has no right to come back later and reclaim it it It has held that of parents foster-parents can be he greater than those of actual flesh and blood It is interesting because it goes opposite to most of our sentimental conceptions of the rights of parenthood The woman in question bore a girl f four ur years ago The he mother was in poor circumstances circumstances circum circum- stances financially and when the child was a year ear and a half old the mother placed it in in a a. public institution for care Then the mother dropped out of the picture The baby was adopted by a man and a woman who raised it as their own Her health was built up she was made happy she came to love her foster foster- parents as her own and lost her memory of her real mother Then the real mother demanded the thc child The foster foster- parents foster refused to comply So the mother sued to have the adoption set aside After hearing the evidence the court re refused refused refused re- re fused to act It ruled that the mother had forfeited her right to the child hild and that its best interests would be served by bj leaving it itin itin itin in the home it now occupies We Ye frequently fall faU into the assumption that the physical tie which exists between a mother and a child can be stronger than any other consideration What we often forget is that rights are accompanied by duties and that it takes more than a simple physical relationship to forge an enduring bond The mere fact that we bring a child into the world gives us very little cl claim im on the child Our job only begins then If Ewe we fail in our duties o our rights ts lapse |