MY TAKE ON THE ALLISON QUETS' CASE

I was waiting to write anything on Allison. I wanted to protect the sanctity of her case. I had hoped that the appellant courts of Florida would reconsider their thoughts and put them in writing this time. This would allow her to pursue her case to the Supreme Court of Florida. I am in contact with Allison. Its breaking my heart that she is in so much pain. It ticks me off royally that Florida is so crooked. Yep crooked. Its obvious that this is in the appellant courts. Its in the family court system there as well.

ALLISON QUETS ~ DO YOU REMEMBER HER?

She was the mother accused of kidnapping her children supposedly placed for adoption in Christmas of 2006. Many bloggers, myself included, posted information about her situation. I recently befriended a friend of hers. I also got into contact with an investigative reporter who is writing a book on family and adoption law in America. I became appalled even further at the story unfolded in front of me. I also recently wrote a letter to Allison. Today I received a letter back from her.

Although I do not want to get into details about her current situation and legal battles, I will do a recap of the events that brought her to her current plight. Allison is a mother just like me and many others. She planned and wanted her children. She chose to go through Invitro Fertilization with both egg and sperm donation. She developed a severe condition called Hyperemesis Gravidarum. It is a severe form of morning sickness. It causes mineral and electrolyte loss, nausea, and vomiting. She was hospitalized twice for this. Both times nearly cost her life and the life of her twins. She was on feeding tubes on both occasions because she could not keep food and liquids down. Most women gain 40-50 pounds during their pregnancies but Allison only gained ten pounds. This is a very debilitating disease. It is not caused by IVF. Two of the indicators of this is a first pregnancy and a mulitiple child pregnancy. For Allison it was both.

During the second stay (May 2005) at the hospital, John Gurley, a long time boyfriend/friend, became worried that he might lose her. It starts off with it being innocent but his intentions are not that honorable. He does not want the twins to interfere with his relationship with her nor her care for his daughter and grandchild. He suggested putting the children up for adoption. He recommended his cousins, the Needhams. Once the Needhams heard about the twins, the war had begun. Please understand the Needhams are NOT the adoptive parents. They currently have custody of the twins. That is it. Kevin Needham's mother and John are cousins in this mess. Mr. Gurley pressured Allison into giving the children to his cousins. He told her that she would still be a part of their lives. The Needhams hounded her until the birth of the twins. They showed up at the hospital immediately. John Gurley was helping her out with the twins until she was able to get on her feet. Allison did have a nanny helping her out as well. It is still very difficult to get back on one's feet after suffering from a severely debilitating disease and surgery.
Allison tried putting off John Gurley by placing restrictions on the adoption. She wanted her expenses paid. She wanted to name the twins. She also wanted visitation. She spoke with one couple and they were put off by the desire of the visitation. Initially the Needhams were also put off by the payment of expenses. It is legal to request that a natural mother's expenses be paid. So this is not unreasonable at all. It is obvious to me that she is trying to stop the adoption. She is just trying to make him happy to get her off her back. I can relate to that because I don't like to be mean to people. I rather just make a show of doing something all the while sabotaging it along the way. Just me in real life.

Allison had to have a c-section. She also required 5 units of blood. Keep in mind this woman was beyond weak at the time of delivery. In every other circumstance, an individual would not be held accountable to their actions. The contract would not be considered a legally binding agreement. This kind of contract only seems to be legally binding in adoption. Is Florida law becoming more and more like Utah? Utah adoption agencies have had several cases where the natural parents did get their children back. In fact several agencies have been banned from the practice of adoption in other states.

In August of 2005 (the twins were five weeks old), Allison agreed to meet with the Needhams. She wanted a face to face meeting with them to tell them that she was not going to give her twins up. She felt that she owed them that much. They met in the office of their attorney, Michael Shorstein. He kept Allison there for eight hours. They were trying to get her to relinquish with promises of an open adoption agreement. This is not legally binding in either Florida nor North Carolina. There is no contingency for visitation. She finally had to call 911 (which was aired on the Dr. Phil Show) to get the papers back because she didn't want to give them up. Mr. Gurley then drove Allison and the twins back to Orlando and left them there. After two days as the sole caretaker of the twins, her mind and body cracked. She has just had surgery, the demands of the twins, no sleep, not eating, and disease that knocked her on her butt. She didn't have the strength to fight anymore. On 8/16/2005, she signed the paperwork terminating her parental rights. Within 12 hours, she changed her mind and called Mr. Shorstein. She verbally notified him. She also wrote a revocation at 17 hours. Within 72 hours, her attorney hand delivered the revocation paperwork to Mr. Shorstein. This was all done BEFORE the termination of parental rights went before the judge. It is also my understanding that not all of the paperwork for the Interstate Compact on Child Placement forms were signed. So this adoption was not finalized. It was being contested. Florida Law states that there is no revocation period for natural mothers when their children are under six months of age. It is so obvious that this is a case of coercion and deception. The Needhams did not return the children. In fact they had another family member bring the children to North Carolina. They didn't even stay in Florida for the ten day time frame required by law. While the case was being contested, Allison was given visitation in September of 2005. She thought of her children every waking moment. When the Needhams complained that it was a hardship on them, she got a place in North Carolina. In June of 2006, Judge E. Mcrae Mathis ruled that the Needhams should have full custody of the children. She appealed her case. In December 2006, on one of the visitation dates, she took her children to Canada. Thus began the very publicized story of Allison Quets. Allison also began to sue the Needhams, Michael Shorstein, and three others in a civil suit as well. On January 19,2007 Allison was returned to Raleigh-Durham to face charges of international kidnapping. The judge in North Carolina refused her bail because she was considered a flight risk. So she has sat in jail every since. The courts in Florida also sealed all documents regarding both the socalled adoption and the civil suits.

Okay if the paperwork is not properly signed, why was the adoption allowed to continue? If the revocation occurred before the Judge even heard the termination of parental rights, why did Mr. Shorstein even continue with this? Oh that is right I forgot. Its about money. Or is it? Rumor has it that the Needhams can't pay their adoption bills. They are going after her money now. Judge Mathis also has connections to the Shorsteins. He should have recused himself immediately. Its now a battle on whose ass is going to be covered first.

Recently the appellant court came down with their ruling without an opinion effectively shutting off an option of going to the Florida Supreme Court. One has to wonder why. Maybe they want to continue to hide the shameful corruption of adoption. One of the attorneys in Allison's case was overheard discussing children as product and the best markets in order to attain this product. I hope that Allison is able to appeal their lack of decision.