UPDATE (from Yahoo)
An army drill sergeant, Terry Achane, whose estranged wife put his daughter up for adoption without his knowledge
or permission while he was stationed in another state, has been
reunited with the little girl, following a nearly two-year battle to get
her back.
"I'm just happy right now. I'm with my daughter," Sgt. Terry Achane said. "It's about time."
The Utah Supreme Court
earlier this month overturned a request by the toddler's adoptive
parents to stay a lower court's December order that the child be
returned to Achane, her father.
On Friday (Jan. 25) the original trial judge, Darold McDade who ruled in Achane's
favor, held a transfer hearing that resulted in the little girl and her
father being united this weekend for the first time since she was born
22 months ago.
"This is the first known case where the
Utah State Supreme Court
has removed a child from an [adoptive parent's] home and returned the
child to the ... legal father," said Achane's lawyer Mark Wiser.
After putting a temporary hold on a trial judge's order giving Terry Achane custody of his daughter, the Utah Supreme Court denied the request of the would-be adoptive parents, the Jared and Kritsi Frei, that the child remain with them while they appeal the trial judge's decision.
Wiser called the Supreme Court's
ruling a "huge victory" for "equal parental rights," meaning one parent
can't put a child up for adoption without the other's permission, and
decried the adoption practice in Utah.
"Terry Achane believes that justice is finally taking place," Wiser
said, adding that his client remains "heartbroken that he has missed 22
months of his daughter's life because of what happened. This is time
that he and his daughter can never replace."
The Utah Supreme Court set an expedited schedule for the Freis' appeal and will hear oral arguments at the end of March.
Teleah is going home!
More news when we have it.
February 11 The Frei's dropped their appeal. Little Teleah is staying with her daddy! (Utah couple ends legal fight over child's adoption),
From FMF:
Utah Supreme Court denies stay