
The quasi-adoptive parents of a two-year-old girl have been forced to return their daughter to her biological parents despite having raised the toddler since birth.
The couple — known as Ms Blaze and Ms Darnley — had an informal adoptive arrangement with the birth mother Ms Grady, who decided during her pregnancy in 2012 that she would relinquish custody of her daughter after the birth.
Over a seven day trial in Brisbane, the Family Court heard the biological mother’s decision was based on her belief the child’s father would not be able to provide financial assistance to the newborn or her three other children, who are now aged 19, 11 and 10.

However, DNA testing undertaken after the birth established the man Ms Grady suspected to be the father was not the biological parent, and it was later determined that another man, Mr Harper, was in fact the father.
Justice Michael Kent delivered his judgment in the Family Law Court, ordering the biological parents of the girl — known as “B” — be given shared parental responsibility as it was in her best interests.
Ms Grady had been a long term friend of Ms Blaze, and the couple resided with Ms Grady from February 2013 until the child’s birth in June, contributing financially to the household and assisting with the care of Ms Grady’s other children.
Top Comments
The child is not the "daughter" of the couple who had been raising her, and they are not her "mothers". Her mother - her only mother - notified the foster-parents that she wished to reclaim custody of her child after only nine months. The child's father never consented to the arrangement with the other couple. It's a pity that the court process took so long, but it didn't come out of the blue. A mother relinquishing her child for a legal adoption would have received counselling, which may have identified ways to address the factors that made her believe that she couldn't raise the child herself. This didn't happen, and once she had gotten her live onto a more even keel, she changed her mind. Good for her.
So forget the best interests of the child. Gotcha.
What about the child... This decision will harm the child for life. Did anyone consider "attachment issues". You can not take a child away from the only parents she has ever known for the first 3 years of her life without serious psychological harm. I work with these kids everyday. It is a terrible injustice to this little soul.