High Court approves teen’s adoption against birth mother’s wishes - Judge says birth mother’s love for her child and her hopes for and emotional bonds with her can never be severed

The High Court has approved the adoption of a teenage girl with complex physical and intellectual needs by her foster parents.

The birth mother of the girl, who is nearing adulthood but who will not be capable of independent living as an adult, had objected to the adoption.

The girl had spent a considerable portion of her childhood in the care of the foster parents who had sought the adoption order.

Ms Justice Nuala Jackson decided it was in the child’s best interests that the adoption order should be made. The judge said that as a six month old, the girl was placed in voluntary care having previously been admitted to hospital on three occasions for what were considered “social admissions”.

There was evidence that her birth mother was finding it difficult to cope and “needed a break”.

When she went into voluntary foster care, she spent a number of days and nights with her birth mother but this diminished over time with overnight access ceasing as it was deemed not to be in the child’s best interests. Access also changed from being unsupervised to supervised.

The judge said it would appear that access steadily diminished over time going from two hours a week in 2013 to one hour a month in 2015 to one hour every three months in 2018. Physical access ceased entirely during the Covid-19 pandemic, with a short period of resumption in 2022.

There had been no contact between her and her mother since 2022 and the evidence was that the girl was “now oppositional” to visits from her parent, the judge said.

An application for adoption was made last January by the foster parents and approved by the Adoption Authority of Ireland. The authority, along with the foster parents and the Child and Family Agency, then applied to the High Court to confirm the adoption with the birth mother as respondent.

Ms Justice Jackson said the evidence related to the girl’s complex health needs was uncontroverted. These needs were physical and intellectual in nature and there had been extensive medical interventions and health professionals involved in her life, she said.

It was also not disputed that the girl’s needs in this regard would continue into adulthood, she said.

It was also uncontroverted that the foster parents have been assiduous in caring for her and they have, over many years, been the persons who have taken responsibility for ensuring that she has the very best medical care possible. “The evidence is clear that these are responsibilities which they desire to and are committed to continuing into [the girl’s] adulthood,” the judge said.

She had heard and fully accepted the evidence as to the mother’s desire to be involved in the child’s care going forward and that she (the mother) would receive support in this from her partner of a number of years.

She did not doubt the mother’s sincerity in this regard but the judge said: “I was uncertain as to whether she fully appreciated the onerous task involved.”

It was amply clear from the evidence before the court that the girl “has particular needs which dictate the very significant importance of future stability and support beyond her minority”.

Having regard to the principles to be applied in cases like this, the judge said she had decided this was a case in which the statutory proofs required had been satisfied such that it was appropriate to make the adoption order in favour of the foster parents and dispensing with the consent of the birth mother and of the birth father who, the court heard, was unknown.

The judge said the birth mother’s love for her child and her hopes for and emotional bonds with her could never be severed. It was to be hoped some level of contact could resume between the two during the girl’s adulthood but that would be up to the girl, she said.