Couple who lost adopted son to biological parents files suit
By Michael N. WestleyThe Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 04/20/2007 06:30:24 AM MDT

Posted: 6:30 AM- Facing the possibility of losing their adopted son - whom the courts returned to his biological parents - a Riverton couple is blaming the adoption agency that botched the deal. In their 3rd District Court lawsuit, Matt and Toni Worthington are seeking unspecified compensation from the adoption agency, Families for Children, its officer, Suzanne Stott, adoption attorney Les England, and notary public George Bradshaw. The child involved, Anthony, who turns 3 in July, has been in the Worthingtons’ care since October 2004, but has been ordered returned to the custody of his biological parents as soon as the court can agree on the new custody terms. Adding to the Worthingtons’ frustration, they say, is that the only tie Anthony’s biological parents have to each other is a surrogate agreement and the child’s biological father is currently in prison. The latest ruling, handed down by the Utah Supreme Court in October, has created a “situation akin to a wrongful death of their child and at a bare minimum, creat[ed] a situation of extreme emotional distress caused by the looming possibility that they may lose their son and that their son may go through the trauma of being ripped out of his home and placed with persons who have not raised him as their child,” according to the lawsuit. The Worthingtons claim Families for Children and Stott were negligent in their duties to obtain proper relinquishments and/or terminations of parental rights for Anthony’s adoption. At the core of this negligence, according to the suit, are Stott, as agent for the adoption agency, England and Bradshaw, who notarized official documents without the birth mother present - a lapse that the state’s high court ruled voided all adoptive efforts. The high court ruled that Stott’s behavior was “reckless, indifferent and in conscious disregard to the parents who place their trust in her to properly carry out adoptions,” according to the lawsuit. In addition to emotional distress, the Worthingtons are seeking damages for negligence and breach of contract, according to the lawsuit. mwestley@sltrib.com