Mother fails to block daughter’s adoption

A MOTHER has failed in an attempt to stop the adoption of her two-year-old daughter by her sister-in-law.

A judge praised the woman, 26, for her “wholly admirable” progress in fighting a drug addiction so she could be reunited with her child, but ruled that it was in the best interests of the toddler that the adoption be approved.

The girl has been cared for by her aunt and uncle since she was born, and Lord Malcolm said the arrangement should be made permanent.

“It would be seriously detrimental to the child’s welfare if she were to reside with her mother … she has always lived with [her aunt and uncle] and to uproot her now would be a huge wrench for the child and in my opinion would be seriously damaging,” he added.

The Court of Session in Edin-burgh heard that the mother lived in Midlothian and had two children by a long-term partner. Her mother cared for her son, who is seven.

The girl went from hospital after her birth to live in the west of Scotland with the father’s sister and her husband. They had “built their lives around her” and “cannot imagine life without her”.

Lord Malcolm was asked by Midlothian Council to sanction the adoption of the girl by the couple, J and S. The mother opposed it, saying every child should stay with their natural mother.

“[The mother] wants to unite her family,” Lord Malcolm said. “It is wholly understandable that she finds it difficult to understand why the child should now be adopted. However, all the professional opinion and the consistent advice from independent panels is that this is what should happen.”

A child psychologist had stressed the potential for real damage to the child if her current very settled situation, which had served her well since her earliest days, was disturbed, the judge added.