Truemors
is reporting from
Member
NP Rank:
NP Rank:
The rights of a teen mother,or the lack thereof
Share: 
by diamondill | April 17, 2008 at 11:21 pm
636 views | 2 Recommendations | 4 comments
Videos
This story starts with the question, do teen mothers have real parental rights?Maybe not.I will tell you of one teen mother who lost her son to the child's grandmother and this is how.. she was living with the child's father and the fathers grandmother when she had the baby and the child's fathers family simply threw the young mother out (She had no resources, no money ,no car,nothing...She didn't even have a coat and it was winter time...She was seventeen.When she tried to go get her son she was arrested and charged with attempted kidnapping, was forbidden to have any sort of contact with this family.The injustice of the whole thing is that no one had gone to court,no custody hearing,nothing.They simply wrote her off.She is devastated and knows no way to get help.She cannot afford an attorney and so her son is growing up without her and apparently that's OK here in America, in West Virginia anyway .They threw her out and kept her baby and they got away with it.I told her to keep hoping,that perhaps someone would see her story and help in some way.People need to know that things like this happen in America.It should also be noted that the grandmother was friends with the magistrate that the teen mother had to appear before after she tried to get her son.This is so very sad.I can remember how much I loved my children when they were babies and how destroyed I would have been if someone had taken them from me.I also remember how naive and unsophisticated I was at that age and she,The teen Mother, is the same way.I told her that miracles still happen and perhaps some day soon,she can be reunited with her beloved son.....keep hoping Rachel...someone will hear.If there is anyone who can help in any way please contact Rachel at diamondil777@yahoo.com
Advertisement
NowPublic on Facebook
What is NowPublic?
NowPublic lets people work together to cover news events around the world.
Crowd Power
Nancy A Hey
Arlington, Virginia, United States
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (4)
at 12:06 on May 22nd, 2008
diamondill, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 12:09 on May 22nd, 2008
I think that is terrible, although I am not surprised, beause my own baby daughter was taken from me when she was three weeks old, even though I was 41, in a committed relationship, and had steady employment. She was taken from me becuase Arlington County CPS decided that i was an unfit mother because I have a mild learning disability. Unfortunately, parents rights are being undermined in this country, because there are financial incentives for local agencies to place children into foster care, or to put them up for adoption. The system encourages corruption, and needs to be changed!
at 19:09 on March 16th, 2009
I had to fight for my visitation of my grandaughter after taking care of her for two years when my daughter had her at the age of 15.
There are so many things in our state that are ignored when it come to the proper application of laws regarding the welfare of children.
I had a problem with the child's father's instability and he eventually commited suicide. Thankfully, I had her the day that he killed himself or she would have been there. I fought drugs and his promiscuity and his previous suicide threats. Ihad actually taken a gun out of his hands so that he didn't kill himself previously and my daughter had moved on to a new relationship that left her wanting to give her to her father for visitation even when he was not stable. I went through Hell on earth to try to protect this child and my daughter from the situation!!
Thankfully, my daughter will now be finishing her RN degree and my grandaughter is going on six years old. I have aged twenty years in the past six but would do it again. I do not know how they managed tothrow her out except that our state does not care about domestic violence or child welfare any more than they care about adult welfare or government reform.
Write to your congressman or write to an organised crime syndicate and you will get the same heartless relpies. I actually was forced to hand over my grandaughter, many times to the stoned father or get arrested for denying him access to visitation. It's a good ole boys club here in our state...I just wish there was more good in it!! We have no protection as women and our children are suffering!! In Ritchie County, there is no prosecution for domestic abuse. What county are you in?
at 20:49 on June 17th, 2009
Hi Rachael, you sound like a lovely friend.
I would be very surprised if she does not have rights as a parent because of her age.
I think it s probably more the case that her rights are not being upheld by local law enforcement people because their biased against young mums, and think they can put it over her.
She needs to become informed on her rights and start speaking the legal systems language to argue against them.
You say she cant afford an attorney ( I may be naive here because I'm spoilt- Australia has systems in place here so that everybody can access legal aid regardless of income), but surely she can find an organization that can help.
Try and find a feminist organization to link her in with. Women s services can be great at educating people on their rights and the resources that are available to them. Maybe do a google search on things like 'womens centre', 'womens legal services' etc and you might find an organisation that can help.
I wish her luck, and hope that she rises up to pull the rug out from beneath the bastards.