[mpatrick]

Today I saw my sister-in-law for the first time in over a year. She was sent to prison for having sex with a minor in which she became pregnant with his child. She had the baby in prison last year and it was immediately put into foster care. The baby, to my knowledge, has been with the same foster family since birth.

I assumed that when my sister-in-law was released from prison that she would be able to resume her life and get custody of her baby. Instead she was sent to a half-way house that is over four hours away from here. Now, I find out that the baby's foster parents are trying to adopt the baby without her consent. Is this possible? She was sent a letter from their lawyer setting up a "goodbye visit" and she was in town today to see her baby for possibly the last time. She has never wanted to give up custody, and has even gone through many programs at the prison she was in to help her with parenting once she was released.

What are her legal rights? Or would I have any legal rights to foster this child until she was back on her feet? I would hate to see her lose her child forever over a mistake that she sincerely regrets. No one ever thought that things would go this far, we never thought they would send a pregnant women to prison, especially one that has never had any prior convictions, for sleeping with a minor. (Well, except for the highly publicized teacher incident.)

I am just at a loss for what to do. I feel incredibly guilty for waiting this long to even come forward and try to do something now. My in-laws are less than compassionate, they come from a small town and are too embarrassed to consider adopting or fostering their granddaughter. I do, however, feel for the family that has taken care of her this long, but I feel even more for my sister-in-law that had to spend a year in prison paying for her mistake, only to possibly loose her child forever.

I live in another state than the foster care is in, but still within 30 minutes from the county. Would that present a problem with trying to possibly get foster care of this baby, or do I even have a chance since the baby is now near a year old?

Thank you for reading and any support would be helpful,
Michelle