Woman gives up 7 kids left in Africa
Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 9:10 am
HOUSTON, Texas (AP) – An adoptive mother whose seven children were found abandoned at a Nigerian orphanage relinquished custody of them Thursday.
Mercury Liggins "does have a love for them" but realized that the family "was too fractured to ever go back together," said her lawyer, Michael Delaney.
He said that after speaking with advocates hired to help the children, ages 8 to 17, it became apparent "the gulf between the kids and Ms. Liggins is wider than we had originally thought.
"Even if she keeps the children legally, there is not going to be a happy home for them," Delaney said.
The children, some of them sick and malnourished, were discovered in August at a Nigerian orphanage by an American missionary who learned they were from Houston and wanted to go home. The church's pastor told two congressmen, and arrangements were made to return them to Texas.
Liggins said she trusted her brother-in-law to care for the children in Nigeria in October 2003 while she took a job in Iraq, working for Houston-based Halliburton subsidiary KBR. But the relative took the money, and the children were kicked out of boarding school and put in the squalid orphanage, Liggins said.
After returning to the United States, the youngsters alleged Liggins had abused them physically and emotionally before they were left in Africa. They remain in state custody in two foster homes.
State District Judge Sherry Van Pelt likely will decide sometime this month whether to accept the affidavit of relinquishment signed by Liggins, said the children's attorney, Terry Lea Elizondo.
She said the children probably would feel a mixture of happiness and sadness over Liggins' choice.
"Several have expressed a desire to see her or forgive her," Elizondo said. "I can't think of any kid who is old enough to think, who wouldn't have some feelings that are difficult to manage over a parent deciding to do that to you."
If the judge agrees, Liggins no longer would be responsible to pay $1,480 in monthly child support while the children remain in state custody. She would not have to undergo a psychological evaluation and attend anger management and parenting classes.
Liggins received $3,584 monthly – $512 per child – from the state for the children's care.
Four of them are biological siblings adopted by Liggins in 1996. The three others share another birth mother and were adopted in Dallas in 2001. The family has been investigated four times for abuse or neglect since 1997. Liggins characterized each as "sort of like a frivolous complaint."
Before adopting the seven, Liggins had adopted two other children with a man she was married to from 1979-90. She also has two children of her own, who along with the first two adopted children, lived with Liggins' ex-husband after their divorce, according to Child Protective Services.
Mercury Liggins "does have a love for them" but realized that the family "was too fractured to ever go back together," said her lawyer, Michael Delaney.
He said that after speaking with advocates hired to help the children, ages 8 to 17, it became apparent "the gulf between the kids and Ms. Liggins is wider than we had originally thought.
"Even if she keeps the children legally, there is not going to be a happy home for them," Delaney said.
The children, some of them sick and malnourished, were discovered in August at a Nigerian orphanage by an American missionary who learned they were from Houston and wanted to go home. The church's pastor told two congressmen, and arrangements were made to return them to Texas.
Liggins said she trusted her brother-in-law to care for the children in Nigeria in October 2003 while she took a job in Iraq, working for Houston-based Halliburton subsidiary KBR. But the relative took the money, and the children were kicked out of boarding school and put in the squalid orphanage, Liggins said.
After returning to the United States, the youngsters alleged Liggins had abused them physically and emotionally before they were left in Africa. They remain in state custody in two foster homes.
State District Judge Sherry Van Pelt likely will decide sometime this month whether to accept the affidavit of relinquishment signed by Liggins, said the children's attorney, Terry Lea Elizondo.
She said the children probably would feel a mixture of happiness and sadness over Liggins' choice.
"Several have expressed a desire to see her or forgive her," Elizondo said. "I can't think of any kid who is old enough to think, who wouldn't have some feelings that are difficult to manage over a parent deciding to do that to you."
If the judge agrees, Liggins no longer would be responsible to pay $1,480 in monthly child support while the children remain in state custody. She would not have to undergo a psychological evaluation and attend anger management and parenting classes.
Liggins received $3,584 monthly – $512 per child – from the state for the children's care.
Four of them are biological siblings adopted by Liggins in 1996. The three others share another birth mother and were adopted in Dallas in 2001. The family has been investigated four times for abuse or neglect since 1997. Liggins characterized each as "sort of like a frivolous complaint."
Before adopting the seven, Liggins had adopted two other children with a man she was married to from 1979-90. She also has two children of her own, who along with the first two adopted children, lived with Liggins' ex-husband after their divorce, according to Child Protective Services.