Thank you for the update. I am telling all of you that if you are not turning over every stone possible...you need to...I am not kidding. You owe it to your kids. I just returned from Mexico from an amazing day in court (civil). We knew going in that this was going to be a bad day for my daughter's mother (the abducting parent). It was a great day because of all the stones we have been over turning these last 2-years. Everything is coming to a head, which is exactly what we want and planned for. May 31st is the next big day...please keep your fingers crossed for us. One thing I have noticed throughout all these threads, is that we all have specific things in common; it does not even matter what country our children were abducted to. Those of you who are relying on the Hague to bring your child back...ask yourself this, "is this the only option you are pursuing?" If it's yes, you are in for a very long road ahead of you. I think the statistics speak for themselves as to why. As LBP's, we have to keep an eye of strategy just as much as tactics...maybe even more so on strategy because it could change. The objective does not change.
Can we all agree that the point of all of this is to be reunited with our kids? If your goal is to bring the parent who abducted your child to justice you are going to be very disappointed. Very rarely do they see justice. Yes, we all know it's a civil rights issue and most can agree that it is a form of child abuse. The flip side is that there is still this stigma that kids under a certain age should be with their mothers - regardless of the circumstance (unless drugs, prostitution or violent crime are involved). That stigma is what we fight against as LBP's...especially being father's. I saw this first hand with the feminist San Diego DA (Jill Lynberg is her name if anyone has had the pleasure)...she flat out told me that my "daughter is better off with her mother because she was 2 1/2 when her abduction took place...the circumstances do not matter". Granted, other law enforcement agencies saw it differently when presented with all the evidence. So, the Hague is just one tactic and WHEN you pursue other avenues, it will certainly offer you and your child a layer of protection as time goes on. The avenues you all went down to get this far, keep that up. It will help eventually...just do not make it your only avenue. I see this is the biggest mistake LBP's make...they rely too much on government to help. This onus is on us as parents to make this happen. That is what David Goldman did so well. He was relentless and that paid off.
Remember, the main objective is to be reunited with your child. You will find a much quicker route to your kids in civil court in both countries...the US and where your kids are at now. In the US you want to find an attorney who knows the family court system very well and has some knowledge of how to work in the country where you child is. To find the right attorney in the country where your child is, check the list of attorney's provided by the appropriate consulate. They screen the attorney's on that list very heavily and they tend to have the interests of the US in mind. Those also tend to be the best of the best attorneys in their respective cities. If you are fortunate enough to know where your child is, civil court can pin the abducting parent down to a geographical area...threatening to take their paternal rights away if they run again. Civil court will also give you access to your child...this is invaluable in building the parent/child bond after not being together for sometime. I am not going to lie, this is gut wrenching because you have to hold the ego and pride back to accomplish this...for your child. You realize quickly that the bond with your child was never gone. They know you are fighting for them!
Before all that, unless your child is legally a dual-citizen, you can actually have them deported out of the country they have been abducted to. The bottom line is not leaving ANY stone unturned...you just don't know which one will be the big breakthrough for you. The Hague alone will not help you. I don't care what Kool Aid the State Department and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children are selling you. I have talked to too many LBP's to think otherwise. In fact there are people in the State Department who actually do not drink the Hague Kool Aid...they are few and far between but there none the less. The NCMEC is a mere shell of itself after John Walsh relinquished control. Ernie Allen runs it now and he has no interest in helping kids. He get's paid $1.5 million a year to glad hand Senators to make sure 90+% of the $40 million in funding continues to come in thanks to us...the taxpayer. They are a non-profit...all their tax returns are public knowledge. Team HOPE is even worse. Ask your Team HOPE contact how they got their child back? Or even if they got their child back? Not one that I met used the Hague to get their child back...not even my direct contact.
I am sorry this is so long. I am very passionate about the subject and if there is anything I can do for fellow LBP's I am all in.
