Updated 11/15/2022

Our friend Sophia has been in a horrible situation since February 2021. Her child has been stolen from her. The biological father, who abandoned Sophia when she was 4 months pregnant, convinced Sophia to go to California to meet his daughter for the first time.

Days before they were about to fly home to Massachusetts, the dad got a court order to remove the baby from her mother's care, telling the judge lies about the well-being of the child, such as that Sophia was homeless and that the baby was in danger. He was granted an "emergency ex parte" child custody order. Sophia and the baby are residents of Massachusetts, so a California court should not even have jurisdiction. During the emergency ex parte order, the father had full custody of the baby for five months. Sophia's primary custodial parentage was restored for seven months and for the last two months (since 9/22/2022), Sophia has again had no custody. Now, for the first time, the baby is being completely prevented from contacting her mother because there are no court-ordered visitations. Please see the updates below as to how this happened.

The first court case was on March 18, 2021 - the case was assigned a child custody evaluation / forensic psychologist

The second was on July 22, 2021 - the evaluator's report was very favorable for Sophia, - but please see the update [below] for details of what occurred.

The trial was on Sophia's birthday in February of 2022. The next hearings are scheduled for December 6, 2022, December 22, 2022 and February 2, 2023.

Sophia is in California, unable to pursue her career (she is a licensed teacher; not licensed to teach in CA).

Quality legal representation is the most important thing to protect Sophia and her baby -- this is why the current fundraising goal is $30K.

If this matter does not get resolved now in the local civil family court, Sophia will need to request an appeal. Appeal attorneys are quoting $100,000 to $200,000. Sophia has depleted her life savings, she has maxed out her credit cards, has gone into heavy debt, and she is relying on the help of her friends to help her through this. Please share this widely. We really need this story to be shared. There is power in numbers, and there is no amount too small.

Thank you for any help you can provide.