Fighting on..without a prayer…

A natural fathers right to known his child

I hate this story. I hate that it is even still going on.
This poor young dad, his poor family, and the poor baby. WTF are these people thinking??

Lots of speculation if you have been following the story. I can use my secret spider sense to tell you what I think went on.

Boy and girl find out they are PG and plan to keep baby. Dad works on nursery and plans about his impending fatherhood. Then dad goes and does his summer intership or camp or whatever. Pregnant mom is home alone with her dounbs and fears.
Now maybe her folks were very concerned about how she could reach her full potential with a child in tow. Maybe they were looking out for their baby and the baby is seen as an obstical to her happiness. We know that many an family has pushed a mom into reliquishment. Maybe they got her with a “just talk to them..get some information”…and that got her though the agency door.

Maybe she got mad at the boy for leaving her. Maybe she just freaked out..but for whatever reaon and no one is saying, this Georgia girl found her way to this Florida agency A Chosen Child with their typical barfy website.

Now being that this young dad NEVER signed anything sayng he wanted his child adopted, and that he corrctly registered with the State of Georgia to have his paternal rights recognized, it is amazing that he still does not have his baby back.

BUT I assume, that momma was made or willingly went to Florida to give birth. That moots all Intercountry adoption proceedings and explains why what he has done with the state of Georgia means nothing. He didn’t register with Florida. And we all know how great Florida is with recognzing the rights of Dad’s in adoption…snort.

Now it has finially come out that the couple who has physical and illegal hold on this baby is former NFL running back Ricky Watters and his wife. So here we have the money card being played big time.Or as quoted in the story:
“I believe that the couple that has the baby are wealthy and well off and I believe their goal is to tie this up into litigation to basically bankrupt this family so they will not be able to continue to fight for their son,” said Head’s attorney, Leslie Gresham.

I would like to point out that he does have a message board and also a way to contact him. Maybe a good does of guilty conscious would do him some good??
And for the record, the earlier statement provided by my husand about Watters being a pot head were incorrect. So my Apoligis for having Rickies in the NFL confused.

Also gulity aparently is the agency in Georgia or as passed on via blogger info:
The adoption agency in Georgia is Claiborne, Outman, & Surmay, P.C.
Ruth Claiborne is leading the case. She orchestrated the child moving from this young father to a family in Florida without the father’s permission. Here’s this delighful human being..cough.

SO MY guess…mom got into cahoots with the Georgia agency who knew EXACTLY what they were doing and sent mom to A Chosen Child in Florida….and eliminating dad as an issue. She knew he wanted this baby, she knew he would give her a hard tme, they knew too and this is what the professionals did? Yeah, they professionally destroyed a young man’s chance at being the father he was planning to be. And now…with football money behind it…and Florida loopholes…the writing is quite clear on the wall.
He is never going to parent that baby. He never had a chance. They made sure of it.

My heart does go out to him and his family.
Now I think I shall write a scathing letter to this Ricky guy and his wife.Yeah, this guy:
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About the Author

admin
Musings of the Lame was started in 2005 primarily as a simple blog recording the feelings of a birthmother as she struggled to understand how the act of relinquishing her first newborn so to adoption in 1987 continued to be a major force in her life. Built from the knowledge gained in the adoption community, it records the search for her son and the adoption reunion as it happened. Since then, it has grown as an adoption forum encompassing the complexity of the adoption industry, the fight to free her sons adoption records and the need for Adoptee Rights, and a growing community of other birthmothers, adoptive parents and adopted persons who are able to see that so much what we want to believe about adoption is wrong.

31 Comments on "Fighting on..without a prayer…"

  1. That’s freaking depressing.

  2. this is so typical. adopters NEVER care how they get the baby as long as they get the baby. illegal actions, coercion, baby-buying … it is all ‘within bounds’ when baby-hunger is behind it. this stuff has been going on for 40 to 50 years and longer. as long as the adoption industry has been around. it just never stops. i pray that this young father can get his baby back. i pray.

  3. Can we get this story out to some media? Madonna all kinds of negative attention, perhaps negative publicity will help convince this guy to do the right thing..

  4. awful…sad…depressing…angering..and the sadness continues..I would love to read what you said to Mr. x-NFL

  5. Maybe you guys need to know the whole story. Ricky Watters lost his first son in childbirth. I can’t imagine what he’s feeling about losing another one …..

  6. Gee, I can imagine losing your frst son.
    In fact I really wish I had a 19 year old hangin around.
    Damn, if I had enough money, I could take the one form down the street and make him mine. After all, my house is nicer, my car is better, and well..I just can’t imagine not getting what I want.

  7. so, Ricky losing a child justifies him stealing someone else’s? fine. just fine. typical adopter justification. you want a child and there’s nothing, no ethics, no morality, no justice, that stands in your way.

    and how old is that guy’s wife? old enough that her eggs have rotted?

  8. It just doesn’t make sense to bring “morals” or “justice” into the conversation. He ADOPTED. He thought he was giving opportunities to a child that would otherwise not be afforded them. How are his action not ethical?

    We also have not heard directly from Ricky, as to the circumstances surrounding the proceedings. Let’s not jump to conclusions based off of the comments of one side of litigation, manifested in an blatant one-sided article.

  9. yeah, he adopted. he took a child away from a young father who wanted that child and did everything he could do in his power to claim paternity of that child, other than he had no idea that the child had been surrendered in Florida (wonder what agency finnaglings went on to make this happen?

    it shows though that every potential adoptive parent, if they DON’T “do their homework,” is very vulnerable to being a party to unethical behaviour.

    Did Ricky:

    1) speak with both parents of the baby?
    2) give the young mother a chance to take her baby home and care for her baby first before the surrender?
    3) give the young mother several weeks first to recover from the birth and any post-partum depression before taking the baby?

    for the first point, Ricky did NOT do “due diligence” to find out if both parents wanted to surrender the baby and the father was aware of where his offspring was being sold to, and for the second and third points, it is blatent coecion on the agency’s part and lack of informed consent on the mother’s part if she cannot recover from childbirth first and take home her baby and experience motherhood so she can learn first-hand what she’s going to LOSE.

    in this day and age of an exploitive adoption industry, there is no excuse for not doing this type of research. demand the names of the surrendering parents from the agency. talk to them in-person. refuse to take a baby at birth before the mother has recovered from the birth.

    in other words, DON’T exploit and DON’T poach!

    it would be nice if adoptive parents who don’t believe in unethical behavior such as this would speak up, and NOT follow the stereotype of being solely predators. i can’t believe that all adoptive parents are. but those who line up in back of this type of child predation give a bad name to all adoptive parents. Ricky W. has just shown why infant adoption should be better regulated, or better yet, NOT exist at all!

    with his wealth, he could have become a legal guardian to both young parents AND their baby, instead of breaking up a family.

  10. Check out the “Coercion Checklist” to see what tactics agencies use on young mothers in order to get them to surrender their babies.

    And also this article, Infant Adoption is Big Business” about WHY this happens.

  11. It just doesn’t make sense to bring “morals” or “justice” into the conversation. He ADOPTED. He thought he was giving opportunities to a child that would otherwise not be afforded them. How are his action not ethical?

    PAPS can state all kinds of preferences at most agencies and refuse “matches” for any or no reason; they can say they are only open to a particular race, will or will not pay certain expenses, will or will not accept specific special needs, etc.

    How difficult is it to also include some ethical preferences? You can certainly state you will not adopt any child where the father isn’t named and unless the father has also signed consent.

  12. Hmmm I find what you said interesting Anonymous. So because he lost a son previously, he is entitled to someone else’s child. Especially a child that was wanted by his father. This adoptive father is also adopted and has found his first parents. You would think he would understand what this kind of loss would do to his “kidnapped” son. Having been in a situation that is very similiar to this one, it appalls me that another adopted person would do something just like this. That child has a father and grandparents who want him and love him. This is exactly what the adoption agencies and adoption attorneys have done for at least fourty years. I know because I am a product just the same kind of situation. I don’t even care what Ricky Watters side of the story is. He has no right to adopt a child that belongs rightfully with his father. This is a morally and legally wrong.

  13. You are not going to believe this but here it is. This man is an adoptee. Oh my God. I can’t believe this

    Ricky Watters has few regrets with settling into retirement on his terms
    By Trent Modglin (tmodglin@pfwmedia.com)
    Aug. 21, 2003

    I remember Junior Seau telling me last year that you don’t just walk away from the game. It doesn’t happen. You’re either forced out because your body fails you, he believes, or because management seeks someone else at a lesser price or younger age. You just don’t leave on your own will.

    “When things happen in the course of your career, you have to sit back and remind yourself that this is the best job in the world, and you have to embrace it and love it every day you have it,” Seau said then. “Because when it’s gone, it’s gone forever, and it wasn’t your choice.”

    I had reason to believe Seau, because he generally speaks from the heart and speaks the truth. And what he said made sense. When you look around the league, it seems that most players are bluntly forced out the door, forced to move on in their lives whether they’re ready or not.

    But there are exceptions to every rule, and I was reacquainted with that old adage after tracking down Ricky Watters recently for a feature in the current print edition (Issue 7, dated Aug. 25, 2003) of Pro Football Weekly.

    Watters decided to buck that disappointing trend and quietly slip into retirement on his own terms, his decision, not theirs.

    But that doesn’t mean that first Sunday, nearly a year ago, was any easier for him. It’s assumed that it’s always difficult for players on that first Sunday when they’re watching from home.

    “It was crazy,” he said. “Watching Seattle was really hard because obviously there are guys out there I care about and the wanting to be out there. It was tough, especially right in the beginning. But I just started getting used to it. And that’s the thing. If I didn’t have anything else to fall back on, I’m sure I would have been glued to the TV and so into it that it probably would have gotten to me.”

    Watters had a number of reasons to retire at age 33. He had a lot of things to fall back on, to occupy his time, to enjoy. His passion for the game was really the only reason to stay.

    He was coming off shoulder and ankle injuries that cut his 2001 season short. He thought it might be a sign, because he entered the league the same way, nursing hand and foot injuries coming out of Notre Dame. He had a Super Bowl ring and had lasted about four times longer than the average NFL player. He found it more and more difficult to pull himself away from his young son. He had other projects that were occupying his thoughts and time — like his budding career as a music producer, a book that came out of nowhere, and, most importantly, the search to locate his birth family.

    This was a year and a half ago, and yet there are still curious fans out there. When I told a friend of mine that I was supposed to be talking to Watters last week, he asked, “Oh, yeah? Who’s he playing for now?”

    Watters gets the same thing all the time. Because there was no pomp and circumstance, no speeches, no retired jerseys, a lot of people assume he’s still on a roster adding to his nearly 15,000 career all-purpose yards. But, I am here to report he is indeed officially retired. Done with football. Regrets, I should add, seem scarce.

    “I just felt like I have other things I can do,” Watters said by phone last week. “I’d taken care of myself, I’d done the right things in putting my money away, so I felt like it might be time to move on. I didn’t make it a big deal because no one else made it a big deal.”

    Watters admits it wasn’t easy, giving up the game he loved so much. In his mind and on paper, he constantly found himself breaking down the pros and cons of continuing his career. It didn’t make it any easier when Dwight Clark called from Cleveland to request his services for the 2002 season. Jon Gruden, yeah, he too gave Watters a jingle from Tampa.

    “That helped me more because those are people that I respect,” Watters said. “It was really a good feeling knowing that I was still wanted out there and that people that I had history with still thought of me the same way they did when I played for them the first time around. That helped me to actually move on, as well.”

    A lot of the soul searching that made Watters realize it was time to move on dealt with his 2-year-old son, Ricky, and his desire to focus on and enjoy fatherhood. Watters and his wife had lost their first son, Tigero, during the middle of the 1999 season. He was born prematurely and lived just 17 days.

    “That was a very hard time for me,” Watters said. “All of those things helped me in coming to the realization and understanding that retirement might not be such a bad thing. It didn’t matter how good I was in football or how much money I had or anything. I never felt so helpless in my whole life, but then I never felt so blessed a year later when a son came back to me. I know I’m a better father than I would have been had that not happened.”

    Watters says he misses hanging and clowning with his teammates. But working with the bunch of musicians that make up his group “Tiger Brigade” helps ease the transition.

    Together, with Watters working as the executive producer from his studio in Los Angeles, the group is putting the finishing touches on an as-of-now-unnamed album that is due out in a month or two.

    The music, Watters said, crosses over several genres and is pretty diverse.

    “I feel like everybody can relate to me, so I have a little bit of everything fused in there,” Watters said. “I’ve got the rock guitar and other instruments, like an orchestra. I just don’t want to do it just to prove I can do it. I really love making music.”

    Watters was adopted, and another primary reason for calling it a career was his search for his birth family. He loves and appreciates his adopted family, the only family he’d known, but locating those with whom he shared bloodlines was a yearning he couldn’t shake.

    After a taxing but ultimately rewarding search, Watters met his birth mother and two brothers for the first time just over a month ago.

    “That’s one of the things I kind of want to get out there (in his book and music) because I know that there are probably a lot of other people dealing with that situation and don’t understand it. I started telling myself, ‘You’ll probably never find ’em, and even if you did, you’ll probably never like ’em. They’re probably not even good people.’ You just tell yourself stuff like that because it’s like a denial situation. … But my wife was the one that was like, ‘I’m watching you and I know that you care, and there are things that are going on that you don’t understand because you don’t know where you come from.’ ”

    “That’s what I want to let people know, that if they’re in the position or that phase of it, it’s not a situation where it’s ‘Do you want to know or not?’ It’s like you have to know where you come from, you have to know why you look the way you do, why you have the mannerisms you have. So many things make sense now.”

    Watters always wondered why he was probably the only football player who’d admit to a love — and gift — for writing poetry. Come to find out, his birth mother is a poet. And an uncle was a poet who taught at Penn State. His book, which started with him venting his confusion about which path to take on life’s winding road, helped him realize that his hardships ultimately have made him a better person. It was finished some time ago, but after connecting three “new” family members, it’s a safe assumption that he’s going to be adding another chapter.

    He feels good when he looks back on his career, both what he was able to accomplish on and off the field. He’s proud of himself, even though he knows how weird that sounds to say.

    And after not quite a year and a half since his decision to walk away from the game on his own free will, he has carved a comfortable niche for himself in retirement.

    “Yeah, definitely,” he says with a chuckle, knowing he’s too busy to be thought of as a typical retiree. “I can’t say that I’m struggling with this retirement thing or anything. But at the same time, I mean, I love the sport. I miss my teammates and all that, but I’ve got new teammates now.”

    Teammates who have helped him through tough times before and are there to fall back on should he need them again.

  14. Anonymous asked how are Ricky’s actions unethical?
    Gee, Anonymous, what on earth kind of reasoning is that, to argue that just because the Watter’s are ADOPTING they are not morally responsible? Who’s Anonymous trying to absolve?

    Especially given that the Watters KNOW NOW (if indeed they didn’t before) that the father had every intention of raising his own kid and had registered in Georgia in accordance with the law.

    I need to say this – Ruth Claiborne’s scarf totally iks me out. It says it all. Barf the scarf, and the woman who’s wearing it too.

  15. For Deb…wish granted:

    Ricky and Catherine Watters
    8815 Conroy-Windermere Road
    Suite 332
    Orlando, FL 32835

    Dear Ricky and Catherine,

    I doubt that you will get to see this letter though I hope that you shall. I suppose that it will be kept from you for you own “protection” though it is not threat except to your morals. I can only beg, that those who read this first, have the decency to pass it on.

    I appeal to the deepest sense of morality and your heart. Please give back that baby boy to his loving father and family. You are helping no one by pressuing this legal mess.

    I do understand that perhaps you have been told that what you are doing is right. I understand that you can, indeed, win, in a court of law as you have more money and time on your side. I can even undertand that perhpas you feel that you are only compiling with the natural mother of this child’s wishes, but winning in this situation is a big loss for everyone involved including that precious baby.

    Please, for a minute imagine having to look this baby in the eye years from now and explain your actions. How, as an adoptee yourself, who understands the desire and yearning to now one’s roots and biological history, be able to justifiy keeping this baby’s father and grandparents form parenting him? How are you going to explain that you fought against his own father and won because you have more money and power and legal loopholes on your side that allowed you to exhaust their finances and break their hearts? You cannot say that you are protecting him for some horrible existance as he had willing family to care for him. You are not saving this child.

    And you are doing this child’s mother no favors either. I know. Despite what her motivations are now…living with will be a huge heavy monkey on her back for years to come. At 19, I also effectivly, with the help of an adoption agency, denied my first born son’s father any rights to his child. I carried that weight on my back and soul for 19 years and it never felt good. Only this past September was I able to face the man I had wronged and tell him of the only son that he never knew. Enabling this young woman to carry this load her whole life will be locking a chain of guilt around her leg and expecting her to drag it about forever. It is no way to live. She cannot escape the reality of life. She has given birth, she is a mother, she has a child and she too..must face the reality. Whatever her issues with the father, she must face them rather than hide. Adoption might allow her to “make it go away” for now..but her life is forever altered no matter what. Please read some of the thoughts and feelings of mothers who have reliquished. The internet is a great source for this.

    Plus, relinquishing a child is hardly an action that does not carry it’s own weight. There are many long term ramifications to reliquishment that I greatly doubt her agency has motified her of. Even of she claims to be willing, she has not made a trully informed choice as she does not have any clue of the life she now faces. Please, if nothing else educate yourself on the true scientific information that is available and denied by the agencies who seek nothing more than profit.

    I understand that you lost a child soon after birth and that you have another biological son. I implore you to imagine how you would feel if someone else came and took your son away with out your consent. What ends of the earth would you move to get him back? How deep was the grief that you felt knowing that you would not see your own child grow up?

    Despite the financial comfort you have due to the NFL, I am sure that their is someone out there in this world that has more money and a nicer home. What if that was their motivation for taking you son? Is more and better really enough? What of they really, really just wanted your child?Is it right just becasue someone can do it? Just because you can win, does not make it right. Rashad Head’s feelings for his son are now different than your own. Did you mother’s cry when your son died? Can you imagine how his mother feels and cries about this? How can you do this to other human beings? It is cruel and unnecessary.

    I understand that you love this baby. I am sure that there is much to love. But still, that does not make it OK and right. He is young enough that he can be safely returned to his family of birth and live a normal happy life with no memory of this legal manovering. Carrying this out for years is just a gross travisty of justice. You have no rights to this baby. He is not yours to take and ignore those who have right to him. How is he going to feel in years to come. Not every adoptee is a peace with the loss of their natural family. Even though you are adopted yourself, please seek others feelings out and learn from their experinces. People are different and everyone has a differnt experince. Has he developed colic yet or is her terrible happy? Both are signs of depression and grief in adopted babies. Check out the Primal Wound.

    Lastly, you do adoption itself no good with these actions. The adoption community, even adoptive parents, even African American adoptive parent, believe that this is wrong. You are hurting more than just this one family. You hurt all those who struggle to make adoption a good and acceptable, moral and ethical, positive outcome for the children that trully need homes. You hurt everyone that has been touched by adoption. This will be a media circus and the only ones that will profit are the lawyes with their fees. Even if and when you do win..you will have this mark on your souls forever.

    There are children that trully do not have parents to love and care for them. I understand your desire to want to help a child, to love a child, but not this one. This one is not yours to love. He belongs to others. Please, ed this neightmare and give him back.

    You will be better people to do so and thousnads will applaud and commend your decision.

    God bless you in this time of great moral delimma and I hope and pray that you are shown the higher path.

    Sincerely,

  16. Rashad’s father is on SoA!!!

    Let me shed some light on this story from someone who’s living it.

    Rashad objected to adoption from day 1. When he told his mother and I that he and his girlfriend were pregnant, we talked to Rashad and told him he had some real life decisions to make. He said that he wanted to be in his child’s life. He wanted his child to know he has a place in this world and that his father wants him. He said, “I made a mistake, but this child is not a mistake.” He was mature in the way he responded and his mother and I supported him. Shortly thereafter, we had a meeting with the girls’ family. They presented us with an adoption plan. Rashad objected. We offered to adopt the child, but the girls’ family refused, saying, it wouldn’t look good on our daughter for you to adopt the child. We continued to have some communications with the family, trying to come to a resolution, but it was unsuccessful. The final straw came when an adoption agency called me with a plan presented by the girls’ family and asked me if Rashad would give his consent. He refused. At that point, communications between the two families broke off. Rashad was able to stay in touch with his girlfriend through instant messaging, but she was not allowed to talk with him. They had to sneak to talk to each other. Rashad began working 2 jobs in anticipation of his child’s arrival. He offered money, but was not allowed to give it to her. He wanted to go on doctors visits and offered to pay for them, but was not allowed. He continued to work 2 jobs, and kept his commitment to his high school football team all summer long. He acted like a responsible adult. When the time came for football camp in July, he called his girlfriend’s father and asked how she was doing, and asked his opinion on if he should go to the 2 day football camp that was required by his coaches. The father said yes, you should go. Rashad then asked, “Would you please call me if she goes into labor?” The father agreed, but we would find out later that he wouldn’t be true to his word. When he returned from camp, he was concerned because his girlfriend did not sign on line. The next day, Rashad became very concerned because he still hadn’t heard from her. He didn’t dare call her, because he was not allowed to call. Something had to give, so he called the father, and the father told him that she delivered the child. Rashad rushed to his girlfriend’s house, only to find out that she wasn’t there. His girlfriend’s father told him not to come back or he’ll be arrested. In a panic, we went to several hospitals in the area, but couldn’t find the baby or the mother. Later, we found out that the baby was given to a family in Florida, and the mother of that family was at the hospital when the baby was born. You see, the girlfriend’s family proceeded with the adoption plan, even though Rashad objected to it. Rashad immediately filed for legitimization. The family in Florida countered by asking the court, and was given permission to intervene. The judge granted a 6 month discovery period. We are now approaching the point of returning to court to hear how the judge will rule on this.
    This whole thing has been a nightmare for us. While we’re waiting, the baby is getting older and my son is missing out on some precious moments with his son. He’s done everything right, only to be put through this. The attorneys for his girlfriend have found a loophole that allows them to string this thing along much longer than it should. We have discovered that the father of the family in Florida is a retired NFL football player, and they have the money to keep this tied up in court. However, we will not go away. We’ll support our son to the very end. My hope is this will be resolved sooner than later, and the child can come home to his biological parent. Rashad’s girlfriend has relinquished her rights as a mother, or so we were told by her attorney’s. However, Rashad never relinquished his rights, and never will. Hopefully, this sheds some light on this case. I pray to God that this is resolved soon. God Bless.

    On a side note, the “family in Florida” have said they are pulling out of this now that they know all the facts.
    Nothing has been sent to the Head’s attorney confirming this as of this morning.

  17. What a wonderful letter. I’ve passed it on to Rashad. He’s very gratful. Thanks again!

  18. In reference to adoptionroadkill’s post about coersion tactics used by adoption professions –

    I did not see “Pressure by adoption professionals to move expectant mother to another state to give birth.” on the list. This tatic was used to hide Rashad’s baby from him while at the same time assuring that his child would be born in an adoption friendly state. An agency tried to do this to my daughter. I did not realize until later that it was because we live in a state where single mothers and fathers have “too many rights” and that I was being too supportive of my daughter.

    As for the adoptive parents in this case, who knows what the agency and lawyers told them? They could have been lied to as well. Anything to make a buck. I hope that the guity parties have good legal representation as the Head family sounds plenty pissed. I think they should sue the bejesus out of these adoption “facilitators” for lying. The couple who is trying to adopt the baby have grounds too unless they signed something saying that they could not take legal action in case of a disruption.

    Hoping that this little baby’s right to be raised by his famliy is protected.

    Happy G’Ma

  19. I find it insane that you call someone a kidnapper when there is no knowledge about how much the adoptive family knew.

    And, now if it is true that the family has stopped the pursuit of the adoption, I hope those words and accusations are removed.

  20. Claud, that really is a GREAT letter – passionate, yet it shows incredible humanity and understanding of both sides. You have a small body but a big soul. Wow.

    I hope Rashad get his son back, and that his girlfriend’s parents get to realise where they were wrong and admit to it. Speculating, but it may well be they’ve created their own issues with Rashad, putting all responsibility and blame on him in order to absolve their daughter and by extension their own parenting.

    Bloody stupid putative fathers’ registries. When people can cross state lines to have their children they can so easily be abused and work against the interests of the very people they’re supposed to serve.

  21. Wow.

    So great that you wrote this and exposed them. I will send him an e-mail and ask him to give the baby back.

  22. OH Claud..your letter was VERY well written and reading it I felt like I was reading what was truly in your heart and it was…your soul as others have said is so big…your insight vast..keep it up girl you are doing great things…passion can drive holes in mountians…and you have a lot of it…

  23. You know what..if indeed the Watters do return the babe as they learned after that it was unethical and immoral, then I will galdly remove such kidnapping accusations and issue an apology.

    In fact, I would LOVE to! Nothing wold give me greater pleasureas it would mean that the child has een returned to his family.

  24. According to the most recent information from the grandfather, the Watters knew exactly what they were doing. I realize that they were trying to be respectful and they probably got screwed by the adoption agency. From what I understand, the child is now back with his mother or still floating out there somewhere. The adoption agency is playing hide and seek with the baby now.

  25. For the record, as it appears your “football loving” husband’s recollections of Ricky Watters were used to disparage Mr. Watters….

    Mr. Ricky WILLIAMS is the Dolphin who was kicked out of the NFL for pot. NOT Ricky Watters.

  26. Yes – accusing Watters of being a kidnapper is just plain RIDICULOUS. Knee-jerk reactions like this are the exact reason we’re sitting in an illegitimate war in Iraq.

  27. Actually, we don’t know if the child was returned to the agency or not. we don’t know how much the Watters knew about the situation or what they were actually told.

    WE DON’T KNOW!

    You have jumped to conclusions here.

    If all is as it seems, I also hope that the young man gets his child back.

    To call someone a kidnapper without knowing the facts is blatantly irresponsible.

    Also, the argument that he should somehow make himself responsible for 2 teenagers and a baby is insane.

  28. Your letter here in the comments is very fair and nuanced. Truthfully, I wish the clear and compassionate observations and insights and moral force in your letter would replace the more polemical ones of the post itself.
    Ignorance is not an excuse, but they (like many adoptive parents) probably didn’t know.
    I am so sorry that this young man has lost so much time with his son, and pray that they really have backed out of the situation. And then I pray for their hearts to heal. And then I hope everybody sues the agency for hurting at least two families.

  29. It would seem from recent reports that the child is indeed back to residing with the biological mother.

    Yet, the comments regarding the adoptive family being “kidnappers” are still up.

  30. Well, I was hoping for confirmation on that fact for sure.
    And a for not being as quick as you might like…sorry..I DO have a life..and sometimes..it even takes me AWAY from my laptop.

  31. Calling an adoptive parent a kidnapper is as offensive to me as someone calling a birthmother a baby factory.

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