Posted on 06/10/2005 1:07:20 PM PDT by MRMEAN
TAMPA, Fla. -- A 22-year-old woman visiting from India is fighting to get her newborn baby back after the state's social services agency, believing the child may be in an unsafe situation, took custody last month.
The Department of Children & Families removed Parita Patel's 4-pound baby girl, named Krinna, about two weeks after she was born at Tampa General Hospital, according to Patel and her Tampa attorney, Scott Davis. She has been to court twice here trying to get the baby back.
Since Patel, from Gujarat, India, is in the country on a visitor's visa and is not permitted to work, DCF is concerned that she will not be able to care for the baby girl, according to Davis.
"A substantial part of it is a language barrier, and they (DCF) believe she is homeless and has no resources," Davis said. "That's not correct at all."
Davis said Patel is married and has land and a home in India. When she arrived last fall to visit friends, she was unaware she was pregnant, he said.
DCF declined comment on the case because of confidentiality issues, but spokesman Andy Ritter said that generally a child is removed after the department has determined it has no stable housing and may be in an unsafe situation.
In January, Patel was struck by a car in New Jersey. The injury complicated her pregnancy, prompting the premature birth of her daughter, according to her medical records.
Her husband, Vikesh Patel, who is in India, advised her to see friends in Florida who could help her and the baby. She arrived in Tampa on April 13, staying with friends. Doctors induced labor a month later.
Patel speaks some English, but her primary language is Gujarati. She said DCF didn't supply a translator until the day before her baby was removed.
Patel said she was granted an extension on her six-month visitor's visa after the car accident and would have to seek another until the issue is resolved.
DCF....Der Children Furher.....
What exactly is the "unsafe situation"? The story managed to omit that unimportant fact.
Tampa, New Jersey, Car Accident, Didn't Know She Was Pregnant, Staying with Friends, Jackpot Baby...
Bizarre. Why not just go back to India?
She came to visit in the fall, was hit in January and just had a baby. That's a long visit.
Gotta be more here.
I bet one of her friends called and said that she wasn't feeding the baby or something.
Do Indians (Hindus?) do the female circumcision thing? Could that be it?
So give the baby back so she can leave the country!
Seems like a non issue.
Agreed. The only thing I can think of is that some doctor told the state to do something for some reason. I can't imagine that the same state that lets abused children fall thru the cracks so easily would be onto this kid only days after she's born.
Kind of obvious. The baby is now a US Citizen and the mother is baby's parent. Mother can't be sent home. She has a free pass to get on the welfair train.
No
A four pound baby sounds like it may not be doing well.
She can be sent home.
I would love to get more details about this. Did her doctor recommend she not go home after the accident in January? I can understand not flying with a premature baby after the birth. I can really understand not leaving after the idiots at DCF grabbed the baby.
This just sounds totally stupid. WHat dangerous situation? We have mothers knifing their babies and the authorities don't do anything, yet they take action in some situation like this? Why not just send her back to India with her husband?
DUH. Slapping myself on the head. Maybe that's why she was here in the first place. We really need that amendment to change the automatic granting of citizenship to babies born in the US. THanks for pointing this out.
No they do not.
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