May 1, 07

NEWS / UT Couple Could Lose Adopted Baby On Technicality

(KUTV) Imagine adopting a baby only to lose the child because of a problem with the final paperwork. It�s happening to a Utah family and now they are suing those who handled the paperwork.

The birth mother signed her baby away, and then later said she wanted the baby back.

The Utah Supreme Court determined this and other forms weren�t handled correctly and it may be just a matter of time before matt and Toni Worthington lose the boy they�ve raised.

�To walk through that door on a daily basis and get hug...that is unbelievable,� says Matt.

Matt and Toni Worthington have done everything they can to keep that joy, named Anthony, in their lives.

But for more than two years, as they�ve raised him they�ve also fought to keep him.

�Sometimes you�d rather be numb because the thought of him going away hurts too much,� said Tori.

Anthony�s biological mother had acted as a surrogate mother for a man, but after he was arrested she regained custody.

And in November of 2004 she signed this relinquishment of parental rights form through an adoption agency so the Worthingtons could adopt Anthony.

But two months later she decided she wanted Anthony back and as the battle went to court it turned out the notary public, the person who places that seal and signature on the last page of a legal document, wasn�t there when the mother signed.

That technicality meant she had never given up her rights, and the Worthingtons may have to give Anthony up as he approaches his third birthday.

Matt says, �Chaos emotionally, mentally, physically. Needing to go to countless courts and wonder is this the day they take my son away?�

�If you�re not going to do your job right, shouldn�t be doing that job,� says Tori

In a nutshell that is the basis of a lawsuit filed by the Worthingtons against the adoption agent, their former attorney, and the notary.

They say they would never be in this situation if they had done their job correctly.

And while the suit doesn�t give a dollar amount they say they have spent everything they have, more than $40,000 dollars.

And they may lose the most important part of their life anyway.

Tori says, �That�s what makes me the most afraid is to worry about how he would feel and what he would think, why isn�t mom and dad coming to get me?�

The bottom line is the Worthingtons want their money back from the experts they hired to help them have a child.

Keeping Anthony is a separate battle.

2News spoke with the adoption agency today; she said she is devastated for the Worthingtons but couldn�t comment on the lawsuit.
Fields Moseley
Reporting

Tags: notary, document, form t, notary public,