The Baby Veronica case

I am sure that many of you have heard about Baby Veronica, and the fight for custody between her adoptive parents and her biological father. Those of us who have Native American children in our homes as foster or potential adoptive placements have been watching this case carefully. If you don’t know the back story, simply Google “Baby Veronica” and you will have tens of thousands of hits. The back story (very briefly) is that a woman (with no Native blood) found herself pregnant and without the baby’s father to help her. She chose to carry the baby to term and then give the baby up for adoption. She hand-picked a set a parents to raise the baby, began a relationship with them during the pregnancy, and had them present at the birth of the child to cut the cord. The new parents took their baby home to start their new life together. This baby’s birth father voluntarily relinquished all rights to his child after her birth. Remember, he virtually abandoned the mother during her pregnancy. For whatever reason, the birth father later changed his mind and wanted to parent the child. Two and a half years after leaving the hospital with her adoptive parents, baby Veronica was ordered to be returned to her biological father because he had some Native American blood and was the member of the Cherokee tribe. ICWA was brought into play.

There are several things that disturb me about this. First and foremost, this little girl was ripped from the only home and family she has ever known without any sort of transition to help her process it. How traumatic for this precious baby! Secondly, if this father did not have any native blood………his change of heart would been a non-issue. The father voluntarily relinquished his rights, and there would have been no legal standing for him to gain custody. But because he had a trace of Cherokee in him, ICWA could be applied to Veronica. This troubles me because the courts ruling that Baby Veronica be sent with her father clearly shows the decision wasn’t about a fathers right to his child, but rather, about a tribe’s right to the child. And what about the birth mothers right? The right to determine what is best for the child she carries? Every woman should be outraged at this! A mother can choose adoption and even pick one of her own relatives to raise the baby….and a tribe can step in and tell her she has no rights to determine what happens to that child or where it is placed if the baby has even a drop of Native American blood. So ICWA law trumps a birth mother’s wishes. A baby who has either parent eligible for enrollment into a tribe (that’s right, they don’t even have to be currently enrolled) falls under this law. There are some Native Americans who leave reservations because they do not want their children raised there, yet the ICWA laws still give tribal courts final say over their children. ICWA stands for “Indian Child Welfare Act” but what it accomplishes is more “Indian Child Placement” because it has nothing to do with the welfare or good of the child. Decisions are not based on what is best for the child, the bonding of the child and sometimes not even the wishes of the parents of the child. It has to do with ownership over the children that Native Americans produce.

Terry Cross, executive director of the National Indian Child Welfare Association, states “I can’t say enough about the importance of a child’s rights throughout their lives, these are things as simple as voting in tribal elections, running for office, taking advantage of tribal scholarships and benefits, participating in customary and ceremony rights, plus their relationships with extended families.”

But about the rights of non tribal parents? And what about the rights of Native American people as American citizens? Do they not have the same rights under US Constitution? And as for all of those extra things, Baby Veronica would have still be eligible for all that was mentioned if she remained with her adoptive parents…. From tribal membership to scholarships and attendance to all events as well. So that makes no sense to me at all.

ICWA is a law that is out-dated and needs revision. There needs to be time limits on contesting placement in non-native homes. There needs to be provisions set in place for non-native birth parents giving them equal rights to their children and the decisions made regarding their placement and safety. And there needs to be limits set on which children ICWA law would apply to. Currently it is just any child who is eligible for enrollment to a federally recognized tribe. But each tribe has their own rules as to what constitutes “eligible” and this blanket law is just not working. I am not anti-ICWA. It has a purpose.

I know that ICWA was a needed law to begin with. There used to be a true theft and abduction of Native American children off of the reservation and into “good white homes.” It was reprehensible. It was wrong and it should be protected against. But I can’t see how this law was meant to be used to rip children out of homes that the birth parents purposely put them in, or take children with no other native ties out of loving homes.

Many Native Americans believe there is no such thing as adoption……that somehow their bonds to their children and ancestors are stronger and have some supernatural essence to them. They beleive that they cannot be broken by adoption.  Some beleive that a child adopted will be come a lost soul that will never find peace and that because they are Native American, they will never fit in with any other culture. Even a scant amount of Native blood makes it so. I wonder if they will pay the same respects to Baby Veronica’s Latino culture, or Caucasian background……..or if there are no “magical properties” to belonging to these races.

It would be interesting to see just how much “culture” baby Veronica is exposed to. I would almost guarantee she does not live on reservation lands, or have any educational differences as she grows up than she would have in the “white world.” This seems to be a tragic and needless injustice as far as I am concerned.

My heart breaks for her parents………..the ones that took her home from the hospital and have virtually every “first” from her babyhood. God comfort them in their loss. I hope and pray that this little girl is healing and finding peace with her new life and that those around her are treating her with compassion and understanding concerning the huge loss she has suffered.

In the meantime, ICWA laws need revised and clarified. I would like to tell you that this is an isolated, rare story……….but this happens to families every day right here in America. Baby Veronica’s story just got national attention for it.

Mama Duck