Adoptive parents, birth father battle for custody of 3-year-old girl | ABC News

a three-year-old girl at the center of a heartbreaking custody battle a one side her adoptive family the other her biological father who was in prison when she was born and now wants her back here's ABC's Steve osunsami an eager pilot okay let's go Pat him Braylon doll singh is just like most three-year-olds she's filled with curiosity attached to her parents but she has no idea about the giant legal battle now swirling around her it breaks our heart break wind is the one of the middle of it what the cool Braylon is adopted just a few days ago her parents were told they could be forced to give their baby girl to Andrew Meyers her biological father he told CBS News that Braylon belongs with him I really think it's time that she came home to her real family what's his name this little girl is now caught in the middle in a case that could help spell out what happens other families in this same situation say hi Eden Tammy doll sing first welcome Braylon into their lives in 2013 when she was a newborn brought her to her house just a beautiful little bundle of baby she was born in South Carolina with cocaine in her little body so at three weeks old the doll sings became her foster parents we honestly thought at the beginning we were working a foster care plan to help a mother get her child back but then her health issues became more serious she needed a special helmet like this one and at foster parents the doll sings weren't allowed to make these kind of medical decisions her birth mother Erica Kiesler was struggling with addiction and had to make a difficult choice probably one of the hardest choices I could imagine a mother making and that's handing her daughter over to somebody else to you yes but she knew my cat that we loved her and she knew that it was a good placement for her so she made the sacrifice as a mother in her new home with seven brothers and sisters Braylon and her South Carolina family were clearly happy can you say Merry Christmas but then a year and a half later a letter came in the mail that's the worst day I can ever remember it was December 15th and them husband called me and he told me that the appellate court ruled against us and I said what did you mean braylon's birth father had appealed their adoption saying only he is braylon's daddy and the girl should now be with him in Virginia Andrew Myers was in prison when she was born according to court documents he says he turned himself over to authorities for what were nonviolent crimes in the hope that he could serve his time and start raising his daughter we reached out to Myers and were directed to speak with his lawyer Nathan Sheldon from the very beginning mr. Myers had a plan that he should be unified with his child and and that the child should be moved to Virginia Myers says that from his prison cell he wrote to Braylon and arranged for his mother to send money but even so a judge chose to end his parental rights in 2015 because he was in prison had little contact with Braylon and wasn't directly paying child support he and the girls birth mother weren't married so he had less of a claim you have to prove your worthiness your fitness to actually be a parent because being a father doesn't mean just a biological relationship but the Supreme Court says that it's biology plus action Myers now said that his parental rights should never have been terminated simply because he was in jail he was released from a Virginia prison in November and now an appeals court is siding with him I've got my life together there's no reason she shouldn't be able to come home to me so now the Dolphins could lose the baby girl they've known almost her whole life I'm open for any adoptive parent their worst fear come true I'm a 20 year Marine veteran and I've never cried as much I have over this state law does say that efforts must be made to reunite children with their biological parents your hands out like this on top of mine look but braylon's biological mother firmly believes that the three-year-old should stay with the golfing's Tina Sparkle creating huh she now has regular visits and she's gotten close with the new parents who should she stay with in your opinion the doctor they're stable they you know they love her they're financially able to do things that my family and his family put together would never be able to do a shot had actually been something the doll seeks believe what's good for Braylon should matter most and say they have the means to provide her a beautiful life we've been there for her we want children's best interest to be able to take president they filed an appeal and lost now they're taking their case to the state Supreme Court we have no plans of stopping if it does not get corrected you'll take it all the way to the Supreme Court if you have to it's going to take the United States Supreme Court to deny it but even if braylon's biological father wins he still might not get custody hello there's a process he'll need to get through to prove to the court that he is fit to raise the child something else that we've heard is when you look at the life that this family is affording this child it just seems that this situation is better for the child we're not going to get an analysis of you know we can provide money versus they can't so the child should be with us and that's not the society that we live in are we going to look at parents and say that these parents are more worthy because they have more to support the child this is supporting the right of poor parents to fight for and keep their children but the Gulf's things say that it's not about money we want her to have a full rich life we've made it available to them that if they wanted to see her they could Rayland have spent some time with her biological father's mother but the doll sings say that Andrew Myers himself has never seen his daughter in person wouldn't she have to move to a different state devastate different people she'd wake up and not know anything they don't even know her favorite color I don't understand how a judge could say that these people deserved a raise violence the family says that the involvement hasn't been as great as you would expect from someone who really wanted to be involved in this girl's life we completely disagree with that at that time so for now the case is in the court and all the adults who love this little girl her father the dolphins and braylon's birth mother what just have to wait while it's not yet clear where she will call home it's very clear but she will be loved for Nightline I'm Steve osunsami in Rock Hill South Carolina our thanks to Steve Olsen son

Channel: ABC News

Views: 1,364,423

Keywords: South Carolina, Braelynn Dalsing, Ed Dalsing, Tammy Dalsing, Erica Keisler, Andrew Myers, Adoptive parents, birth father battle for custody of 3 year old girl, biological father, adoption, custody, parenting, abc, abcnews

Id: HFvSAngQZ_o

Length: 7min 28sec (448 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 04 2017