G. K. D., In re

• Decision Date: 16 February 1960
• Docket Number: No. 30236,30236
• Citation: 332 S.W.2d 62
• Parties: In the Matter of G. K. D., a Minor. N. D. L. (Petitioner), Appellant, v. FAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICE OF GREATER ST. LOUIS, Respondent.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

Page 62

332 S.W.2d 62

In the Matter of G. K. D., a Minor.

N. D. L. (Petitioner), Appellant, v. FAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICE OF GREATER ST. LOUIS, Respondent.

No. 30236.

St. Louis Court of Appeals, Missouri.

Feb. 16, 1960.

Karl F. Lang, St. Louis., for appellant.

Fred A. Eppenberger, John R. Barsanti, Jr., St. Louis, for respondents.

Edward L. Dowd, St. Louis, for prospective adoptive parents and amicus curiae.

MARSHALL CRAIG, Special Judge.

The appellant was the petitioner in the trial court. She was the natural mother of G. K. D. In her petition she sought to have the court set aside its order transferring the custody of G. K. D. to the Family & Children's Service of Greater St. Louis, to revoke her consent to adoption, and asked that she be granted custody of said child. This petition was filed on May 8, 1958. The order of the court authorizing the transfer of the child to the Family & Children's Service of Greater St. Louis was dated December 17, 1957. The Family & Children's Service of Greater St. Louis is the respondent.

The record discloses that appellant's first marriage was to D. L. B. from Ellis, Missouri, on or about May 18, 1951. He divorced her on or about May 18, 1955. After that divorce, her first child (not the child in controversy here) was born to her in September, 1955, at Bonne Terre, Missouri. Appellant was not certain that D. L. B. was the child's father. She told the Juvenile Court probation officer and the social worker that her first child was born out of wedlock. This child was left with appellant's sister until she got an apartment and a baby sitter, and then later she went to live with her stepmother at River Mines, and then she moved to Elvins, Missouri. The child was left during the day with a baby sitter. Then in June of 1955, she moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and the child was taken care of by the lady upstairs. This arrangement continued until the spring of 1957.

About January, 1956, appellant began going socially with A. G. L., they having known each other ten or twelve years. After about fifteen months of keeping company with him, she became pregnant. When she became aware of her condition in February, 1957, she and A. G. L. decided to get married, and obtained a marriage license in Farmington, Missouri. Before a marriage was performed, A. G. L. disappeared, and although she tried to reach him by telephone and letter at his home in Flat River, Missouri, she received no response from him. She continued to work in St. Louis until June, 1957. On July 15, 1957, when she was five months pregnant and no longer able to work, she contacted the Family & Children's Service of Greater St. Louis for help. This agency, respondent herein, is a voluntary, non-sectarian, non-profit, private agency supported by the United Fund. Its primary function is to try to keep families together, and its services include family counseling, assisting unmarried mothers, placement and supervision of children in selected boarding homes and placement of children for adoption, it having been duly licensed by the State Department of Health and Welfare of the State of Missouri for this purpose.

When the appellant came to respondent and explained her condition, the agency made immediate arrangements for her to enter Booth Memorial Women's Hospital. The baby was born on October 29, 1957, and she gave him her first husband's name. She refused to see the baby. The child was placed in a foster home. On December 17, 1957, the custody of the child was transferred by the Juvenile Court of the City of St. Louis to the Family & Children's Service of Greater St. Louis, and on February 20, 1958 the child was placed in the home of Mr. and Mrs. A.

On March 25, 1958, appellant, through her attorney, advised the respondent that she desired to have the child returned to her. She had heard from A. G. L. in February, 1958, and they agreed to get married. She married him on April 30, 1958. On May 9, 1958, she filed her petition to set aside transfer of custody and to revoke consent to adoption. A. G. L. did not join her in her petition, even though he contends that he is the father of G. K. D.

Appellant's petition was denied by the trial court. A closer examination of the facts discloses that appellant's parents are both deceased and that she was 25 years of age in July, 1958.

Appellant testified that she had gone to high school with A. G. L. He testified that in March, 1957, he went to Kansas for two weeks, then came back to live with his mother in Flat River; that he knew appellant was pregnant when he left for Kansas; that he gave her no financial support and had no contact with her from March, 1957, until February, 1958; that he was sort of between two fires, his religion and his family were pressuring him.

When further reference to the child in controversy, the representative of the respondent had at least twelve meetings with appellant between July 22, 1957 and December 16, 1957. A representative of the agency testified that she had many consultations with appellant; that on the first day when she drove her back home, appellant stated that 'perhaps it might be better to give the baby up' because she had no adequate financial resources and no husband to support the child; that the representative told her to reconsider it very carefully and told her that the agency would no nothing against her wishes in making plans, and that at the next meeting she was told that the agency would go along with the plans the appellant was making at the time; but whenever she decided to change her mind she should not refuse to discuss things with the agency 'because so many girls do change their minds later on.' After the baby was born on October 29, 1957, the representative of the agency called on the appellant on October 31, 1957. Appellant declined to see the baby, and signed papers agreeing to foster home placement for the child. On November 13, 1957, the child was taken to the agency's pediatrician and then placed in a foster home. Prior to that time appellant had left the hospital, leaving the baby there. The agency had difficulty contacting appellant thereafter.

On December 16, 1957, appellant appeared at the St. Louis Juvenile Court and had an interview with a deputy probation officer. The officer talked privately with the appellant and among other things asked her if the adoption had been explained to her, and was informed that it had been. There was no showing of any pressure being put on appellant. She then signed the petition for transfer of custody and consent for future adoption. The transfer of custody hearing was held on December 17, 1957, and an order at that time made transferring the child to the Family & Children's Service of Greater St. Louis.

The child was placed in the home of Mr. and Mrs. A. for adoption, on February 20, 1958, and had, according to the testimony, made an excellent adjustment with the adoptive parents and was very much at home with them. The adoptive parents were shocked when faced with the possibility of having the child taken from them. They had been married in February, 1946, and were childless. Mr. A. had been employed by the Carter Carburetor Co. for seventeen years, then became Chief of Police of the City of Dellwood. Both Mr. and Mrs. A. testified as to their future plans for the child and their love for him.

Appellant had made no effort to see the child prior to consulting her attorney in March, 1958.

Appellant's petition to set aside the transfer of custody and to revoke consent to adoption was filed on May 9, 1958.

The appellant bases her appeal on the ground that the trial court erred (1) retaining jurisdiction when in fact the Juvenile Court of the City of St. Louis did not have jurisdiction over the matter under the statutes of the State of Missouri, (2) the exercise of its judicial discretion in refusing to allow the petitioner (appellant) to revoke her consent to adoption, (3) finding that the best interest of G. K. D. would be served by his remaining in the custody of the proposed adopting parents, (4) not permitting the appellant to revoke her consent because the evidence disclosed that appellant and A. G. L. were later married and A. G. L. acknowledged that he was the father of G. K. D., thus making the child their legitimate child, and (5) not permitting the appellant to revoke her consent because the evidence disclosed that the child was legitimized by the marriage, and the consent of the father thus became necessary for the legal transfer of custody and later adoption.

This is not an appeal from an adoption as such. The action herein originated as a proceeding to set aside an order transferring the minor child, G. K. D., to the Family & Children's Service of Greater St. Louis and for a further order revoking the prior consent of the mother-appellant. We will first look at the question of jurisdiction raised by appellant. There is no merit to her contention. She filed her proceedings herein to set aside the transfer of custody and to revoke her consent in (1) the court where she had originally filed her transfer of custody petition and (2) the court where the transfer was made and where jurisdiction had been fixed. The trial court was asked by the appellant to set aside an order made by the same trial court. The adoption proceeding may present another jurisdictional question which is not before us. The question of jurisdiction is ruled adversely to the appellant.

We come now to the important questions as to whether the trial court erred in the exercise of its judicial discretion in refusing to set aside its order transferring the custody of G. K. D. to the Family & Children's Service of Greater St. Louis and in refusing to revoke the appellant's consent to adoption. The exercise of sound discretion of the trial court, the destruction of the child-parent relationship, and the welfare of the child all now become factors to be considered.

Our adoption laws are...