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Guardian: Chinese Girl Should Be in U.S.
Guardian: Chinese Girl Should Be in U.S.
Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo! By WOODY BAIRD, Associated Press Writer MEMPHIS, Tenn. - A 5-year-old Chinese-American girl at the center of a custody fight has bonded with the American couple who raised her from infancy and should stay with them, a court-appointed guardian said. Guardian Kim Mullins also testified Monday that she believes the girl, Anna Mae, would face gender discrimination if her birth parents are allowed to take her to China. "She is a Baker in her mind, from what I can see," Mullins told Circuit Court Judge Robert Childers. Jerry and Louise Baker, who became foster parents of Anna Mae in February 1999, are trying to adopt her over the objections of biological parents Shaoqiang and Qin He, and are suing to terminate the Hes' parental rights on grounds of abandonment. The Hes, facing legal and financial hardships, put Anna Mae in foster care less than a month after her birth in Memphis. The Hes say they were tricked because of their ignorance of American law and thought the foster care was only temporary. They want to move back to China with her and their two younger children, also born in Memphis. Mullins said a book titled "The Lost Daughters of China" helped convince her that Anna Mae would face gender discrimination in China. The book details the historical and cultural prejudices against women in China and the issue of abandoned baby girls there. The Bakers have four biological children, including a daughter close to Anna Mae's age, and the two young girls are particularly close, Mullins said. Anna Mae's father was a graduate student at the University of Memphis when the school canceled his scholarship in 1998 because of a sexual assault charge for which he was ultimately acquitted. The Hes face possible deportation since his student visa expired when he was expelled. The Hes last visited their daughter at the Baker home in January 2001. An argument broke out and police ordered the Hes to leave. "They weren't available to (their daughter) when she was forming a primary attachment of her life, for whatever reason, and because of that, and because they weren't available, she made herself the child of the people who were," Mullins said. If the judge rules for the Bakers they can continue with adoption. If he rules for the Hes, other court proceedings will be needed to decide custody. David Siegel, a lawyer for the Hes, said an appeal is likely no matter what Childers decides. The custody fight has draw the attention of other Chinese immigrants as well as the Chinese embassy in Washington. Two embassy officials have attended sessions of the trial as observers. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...hild_custody_1 Defend your civil liberties! Get information at http://www.aclu.org, become a member at http://www.aclu.org/join and get active at http://www.aclu.org/action. |
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