Anna Mae Custody

I found out today that Anna Mae Baker/He was returned to her biological parents in July- after 8 years of living with another family in Tennesse. I wrote this when the Tennessee supreme court treated Anna Mae like a piece of furniture rather than a child in their decision in January.

Alot of wrong was done on both sides... if you aren't familiar with the case- simply google Anna Mae Baker or Anna Mae He.

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It doesn’t matter now who was right and who was wrong in this situation.
What matters is an 8 year old girl who is aboout to be taken from the only family and only country she has ever known.

Anna Mae isn’t Chinese. She is Chinese-American. She doesn’t speak Chinese, she doesn’t “think” Chinese, or “act” Chinese. She is American in this.

To take her from her family and give her to complete strangers- which the Hes are to her is unfathomable.

I know that bloodline is important in Chinese culture. To Anna Mae- bloodline is what is ripping her from her parents and siblings. Because folks- the Bakers are HER family… in HER mind- that is her family and no judge, no bloodline can change that.

Perhaps legally Anna Mae belongs with the Hes.. emotionally, she is with her family. To send her back to them- only to then have her go to China- I can’t imagine her fear. She is a U.S. citizen- she should not have to go to a country she doesn’t want to go to- perhaps an immigration attorney will take up the fight to keep her here based on emotional damage… who knows?

This is a mess- but the deed is done and Anna Mae needs to know that there are 2 families who love her. Perhaps if the judge had offered to cut Anna Mae in two- we would have seen the “real” parent step forward.

The Bakers and Hes should probably share custody of this child- it is what is in the best interest of her.. .she is not a coffee table. She is a child and she has a family and I can’t imagine how she will cope if taken from her family.

Sometimes legal right isn’t moral right.

And this case just amplifies one reason I chose international adoption… because I KNEW that 1 year, 4 years, 7 years down the road- I would NEVER have to deal with a bio-parent coming back and saying- I want my child. I made a mistake, I didn’t understand what I was signing.

It’s awful what we do to children in this country in regards to adoption and custody.