Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 11, 1993 TAG: 9308110145
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SARASOTA, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
To that, the attorney for birth parents Ernest and Regina Twigg responded: "So what?"
"The Twiggs have a God-given, constitutional right to have a God gave Ernest and Regina Twigg the right to decide what is in the best interest of Kimberly. And God gave them the instinct to seek out their own child. John Blakely Attorney for Kimberly May's biological parents. meaningful relationship with Kimberly," said their attorney, John Blakely. "This case is not only about the rights and feelings of Kimberly."
Closing arguments ended a seven-day civil trial between two feuding families that has fueled the debate over the rights of biological parents versus the preferences of a child.
Kimberly wants to sever all ties to the Twiggs and preserve her life with Robert Mays of Sarasota, who has raised her since the switch at a rural Florida hospital in 1978. The Twiggs want to be able to visit her. Circuit Judge Stephen Dakan has said he will take a few days before ruling.
While she waits, Kimberly told reporters after Tuesday's court session, she will "think about how my life is going to be, without them in it."
Kimberly's attorneys said the Twiggs, particularly Regina Twigg, gave up any chance at a relationship with the girl by pursuing suspicions that Mays was somehow involved in the hospital switch and portraying him as an abusive father.
Regina Twigg devastated the girl, her attorney said, by repeating those unproven beliefs about Mays in a book, on tabloid television and talk shows.
"This woman is obsessed with the idea of Kimberly," said George Russ, Kimberly's attorney. "She is an obsessed stranger stalking her prey."
He also faulted Twigg for doing nothing to stop his wife.
Those allegations are typical of any divorce or custody battle, the Twiggs' attorney responded, noting Kimberly is not some "brittle child" but a resilient, self-assured young woman.
Blakely said Kimberly enjoyed her visits with the Twiggs and their seven other children after the two families reached a 1989 visitation agreement.
But Mays cut off the visits after five sessions, saying they were disruptive to Kimberly and that her grades were slipping. At that point, the Twiggs began an effort to seek custody that was denied last year.
Calling Mays "insidious," Blakely charged that he poisoned Kimberly's mind against the Twiggs. The attorney compared the case to that of Patty Hearst, the kidnapped heiress who ended up sympathizing with her captors.
But beyond all the differences between the two families, Blakely said, is the case law that historically backs the rights of birth parents in such cases.
And if not the law of state, then a higher law.
"God gave Ernest and Regina Twigg the right to decide what is in the best interest of Kimberly," Blakely said. "And God gave them the instinct to seek out their own child."
Whatever the judge's decision, the losing side is likely to appeal and may keep Kimberly's future in the courts until she is 18, when she can legally decide for herself what she wants.
The Twiggs took home a girl they named Arlena, who died of a heart defect in 1988. Genetic tests showed Arlena wasn't related to the Twiggs and that Kimberly was their biological daughter.
Mays' wife died in 1981.
by CNB