Opinion ID: 1986881
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Evidence of Mother's abuse and neglect in placing twins for adoption

Text: Mother testified she first considered adoption because the twins' father told her no man would want her with three children, much less five of them. A disturbing statement in its own right, it prefaced Mother's chain of decisions predicated on her own desires that demonstrated her unfit to be a party to the parent and child relationship. Sec. 211.447.4(6). Mother first attempted to place the twins with R.A. and V.A., a married couple residing in California. She admitted placing the twins with them because they were well off financially. Mother acknowledged that she was aware of V.A.'s criminal record before placing the twins with them. After leaving the twins in the custody of R.A. and V.A., Mother surreptitiously removed the twins from their home a month and a half later because she heard a rumor they were strapped for money or they were filing for bankruptcy and because when Mother called them, V.A. acted nonchalant. [6] She told R.A. and V.A. she was taking them out for a visit, when in fact she took them to a hotel where A.K. and J.K., a married couple residing in the United Kingdom, met her two days later. After driving from California to Arkansas with A.K. and J.K., Mother transferred custody of the twins to them. A child abuse investigator from DFS testified that Mother said she had placed her children with A.K. and J.K. because they were going to allow her to come to the United Kingdom every year on the twins' birthday, which would be a good experience for her, and that she thought they would pay her airfare for those annual visits. Mother's first objection to A.K. and J.K. having custody of the twins occurred approximately on January 16, 2001, as a response to media reports that she had sold the twins over the Internet. [7] British authorities rendered the placement with A.K. and J.K. short-term by taking custody of the twins on January 18, 2001, approximately two and a half weeks after their arrival in the United Kingdom, based on allegations of A.K.'s and J.K.'s unfitness. [8] Both placements of the twins, with R.A. and V.A. and with A.K. and J.K., were illegal under Missouri law. The transfer of custody from Mother to both couples violated section 453.110, [9] the purpose of which is to prohibit the indiscriminate transfer of children and to prevent parents from passing them on like chattel to a new owner. In re Baby Girl ___, 850 S.W.2d 64, 68 (Mo. banc 1993). Mother also admitted that she gave a false address to the Arkansas court to effect the twins' placement with A.K. and J.K. Mother told a psychologist that she knew she was required to be an Arkansas resident to ensure the twins' adoption there, so she used an aunt's Arkansas address instead of her own. Relying on her falsified information, the probate court of Pulaski County, Arkansas, entered an adoption decree for the twins on December 22, 2000. After learning that none of the parties was an Arkansas resident at the time the adoption decree was entered, the Arkansas court entered an order on March 6, 2001, to set aside that decree for lack of jurisdiction.