Court withholds adoption decision

Page 2

The B.C. Court of Appeal will decide if an 18-month-old child would be better raised by his Native mother in Alberta or the white couple in Victoria who adopted the toddler 16 months ago.

James Tearoe, 47, and his wife, Faye Tearoe, 49, privately adopted the boy when he was two months old.

But Teena Sawan, a 20-year-old member of the Woodland Cree band near Manning, Alta., revoked the adoption. Last month, Justice Allen Melvin of B.C. Supreme Court granted custody to the birth mother, citing the importance of the children's Native heritage.

Faye Tearoe went into hiding for three days with the toddler, whom they named David, after the June 14 decision. She surrendered the child to authorities after the appeal court said they wouldn't hear their appeal until the child was returned. They were granted interim custody of the blond-blue-eyed child pending the decision.

James Tearoe was in court July 21, and sat quietly in the middle of the front row with his hands folded in his lap next to a companion. Faye Tearoe and Sawan did not attend.

The appeal panel of three justices agreed in an unusual step to hear new evidence questioning the suitability of Sawan to raise the child.

But they reserved decision July 21 on whether that evidence was admissible, as well as their decision on the appeal, to an unspecified date.

At the hearing, Tearoes' lawyer, Brian Young introduced Sawan's medical records that included clinical notes indicating alcohol and drug use, suicide attempts and an assault against her.

Young said the evidence came from Dr. Daniel Bester, Sawan's doctor in Manning, who contacted Young after the June 14 trial.

In a 145-page report, Bester said Sawan took five to 10 Tylenol while drinking in a "suicide attempt," consumed alcohol and marijuana in excessive amounts and refused counseling for personal problems.

But Jean Morgan, Sawan's lawyer, disputed the medical report, saying there were no toxicology reports to back up the claims and therefore the evidence should not be admitted.

"There are no psychological assessments, no neurological reports," she told court. "The (general practitioner) is making statements and there is no objective evidence by a doctor who specializes in that area."

Morgan said there was no clinical evidence of drug abuse by her client and that the alcohol abuse was not ongoing.

"These are isolated incidents that happened at a specific time, and that's after the child is gone and she's tried to get him back."

Under Alberta law, a birth mother has 10 days to revoke an adoption, in writing.

Sawan gave up the child, whom she named Jordan, two months after he was born in December, 1991. The Tearoe's adopted him at the end of January.

In February, Sawan called the couple to say she had changed her mind. The Supreme Court trial heard that she wrote a letter to the Social Services Ministry revoking the adoption. The letter never arrived.

Included in the grounds for the appeal was that Sawan's Native race was established but not her culture, Young told court.

"How is it in the best interests of the child to show him Native culture if his biological mother doesn't participate in Native culture?"

Young also noted that Sawan has a Native mother and a white father and that the child's father was white, making the child one-quarter Native.

The Tearoe's have indicated that they will make the child's Native culture available to him when he is older, if he desires.

Young also said that the child has bonded with the adoptive parents and their other adopted daughter, and it would be in the best interests of the child to remain with the Tearoes.

Moran said Sawan has indicated a willingness to learn more about her Native background, has been granted her Indian status, wants to move to the woodland Cree reserve and attend Native courses in Lac La Biche, Alta.

And the child is eligible to become a status Indian, she added.

In a letter to the Tearoes in May, 1992, Sawan wrote, in part: "Whn I gave Jordan to your family, the day he left I sat and cried all day and I sat up all night thinking of him. Jordan means everything to me and he's even more special to me because he was my first child."

"I know this letter will come as a shock and I'm not trying to make things harder for your family. Jordan has been with your family for two months and from talking to Jim the other day, things seem to be doing well.

"I regret what I did to this day because in all honesty I wanted to keep him and

not give him up. I miss Jordan to this very day even more now than yesterday.

"I hope you can understand how I feel. I'm not trying to upset you and your family, I'm just expressing the way I feel.

"I'd like Jordan back and I realize you probably would like to keep him."