baby veronica 2

Two sets of parents, one little girl.  One set of parents in South Carolina, the other in Oklahoma.  Both want the child.  The birth mother chose the South Carolina couple, the Capobiancos.  The Oklahoma couple is comprised of the biological father, aka sperm donor and his wife.   The biological father had texted earlier that he gave up any claim to the child.
The Capobiancos, chosen by the birth mother,  took care of baby Veronica from the moment of her birth until she was 27 months old.  It was then that the courts. basing their decision on tribal law, gave Baby Veronica to her birth father.  The Supreme Court hears the case this week.

Washingtonpost.com:

“We want things to be familiar to her when she comes home,” said Melanie Capobianco. “I know she’s going to know her home and family.”

And in the other house lives the father, Dusten Brown, who once tapped out a text message saying he’d give up rights to his daughter, but now embraces parenthood. His daughter, now 31/2 , shows off the room that Brown and his new wife have painted pink and purple.

“Her whole world as of this moment is me and my wife, it’s Mommy and Daddy,” said Brown.

The justices of the Supreme Court this week will take up the case of Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl and take on the role of Solomon to decide in which house Baby Veronica, as she has come to be known, should live.

Veronica’s birth mother chose the Capobiancos to raise the child, and in many states Brown as an unwed father would have little say. But because he is a member of the Cherokee Nation, the court will be considering once again the Indian Child Welfare Act.

Beware of unintended consequences.  The Indian Child Welfare Act was originally legislated to keep white folks from taking away Indian children and putting them in non-Indian adopted homes and foster care.  Because Dusten Brown the biological father is a member of the Cherokee Nation, this law is being used to invalidate the wishes of the birth mother who is 3/256ths Cherokee.  She is Hispanic.

Babies and birth mothers go hand in hand.  There is a great deal of he  said-she said as this case becomes more public.  The birth father said he and the birth mother were engaged.  He blames her for breaking off the engagement.  Just guessing but I am willing to bet that old Dusten Brown didn’t pay a dime for prenatal care.  I am also willing to bet this sperm donor wasn’t there for the mother when her back hurt and her ankles were swollen or when she went in to labor.  If he were all that interested in fatherhood, things would have gone down differently.

If I were on the Supreme Court, I would sent that toad packing.  The mother cared enough to chose a loving family.  She carried the child and gave her life.  Dusten Brown missed his chance.  Perhaps he would have more rights if he had stood by the mother or here’s a novel idea, he could have married her.

In my eyes, he’s just another dead beat dad.  Too little, too late!  Am I being too harsh?

I think of the biblical story of Solomon.  If he really cared about the child, would he have taken her from the only mother and father she knew?

Further Reading:

The Cherokee Side

The Case

10 Thoughts to “When your heritage bites you in the butt….”

  1. “The biological father had texted earlier that he gave up any claim to the child.

    Done. Too late. Sorry dude.

    Should stay with the other family.

  2. Is this an issue about father’s rights or Indian rights?

    I agree with Cargo, this dude had his chance.

    Yes, at this age I generally would come down on the side of the woman. It takes what??? 30 seconds to become a biological father. It takes a lifetime to be a dad.

    A mother is the sole nurturer of the child from embryo-hood until she gives birth. Then it seems appropriate that she would have the sole decision-making for the newborn, when the father isn’t in the picture.

    That 9 months trumps any sperm-donation.

  3. Ray Beverage

    I also found the article interesting about how the father was just recently found to be a member of the Nation, and just how far I personally feel (that 3/256th part) the idea if you have any trace of Indian Blood in you, you are by fact an Indian. I lay odds many who’s families go back to the first settlements or Colonial Period could possibly find some fraction of Indian Blood in their family.

    I agree with the point he sent a text which is as admissable in court nowadays as any other written document and gave up his rights. May the Supreme Court choose to place the child with the adoptive parents.

  4. @Ray Beverage
    How many drops do you need? I think that my great, great, great, great, great grandmother is a Chickasaw princess from Mississippi….. at least according to some lines that I have in Ancestry.com

  5. @Ray, I agree. I feel the father is being opportunistic and disingenuous.

    I was afraid I was being a total female chauvanist pig but you, Cargo and I seem to be at least on the same sheet of music…perhaps for different reasons but the end result is the same.

  6. Ray Beverage

    @Moon-howler

    You weren’t, Moon. Putting kids in the crossfire for any reason is just wrong.

  7. Ray Beverage

    @Cargosquid
    Quick, Cargo! Do the math and figure out the percentage! Maybe there are rights under the Indian Laws you are missing…if nothing else, maybe get recognized by the Chickasaws so you can then buy land and operate a casino!

  8. Lyssa

    @Ray Beverage

    The casino/cigarette exemption requires 25%

    1. I think this donor is taking advantage of a situation and it sure wasn’t legislated for that reason.

      He whould at least be up to casino or cigarette standards,

  9. @Ray Beverage
    Nah… I think that all the indian land in Mississippi is gone….Besides….I want to stay in Virginia. Besides….maths iz hard.

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