"When Mavrik emerged from his mama's womb, he was high on cocaine, just like she was.

That was the beginning of the end of the little guy's relationship with the woman who birthed him.

The official conclusion came two weeks ago in Circuit Judge Bill Law's chambers, when Deb Balentine and her husband, Mark, adopted the little fellow whose specialty is zinging off the walls.

Moments later, his sister and brother, ages 4 and 5, were adopted by Rebecca and Rick Farling. The Balentines, who live in Groveland, are trying to sell their home so they can move next door to their friends the Farlings in Silver Lake and the kids can grow up together.

That's one happy ending for three lively, dark-haired cuties.

The children are part Choctaw, and federal law gives tribes a say over potential adoptive parents. Caseworkers failed to notify the tribe when they should, Balentine said, and at one point, the tribe jumped into the case in favor of a family on an Oklahoma reservation. In the end, it didn't work out.

Then, the birth mother finally concluded she couldn't take care of the children and signed over her rights to them. But her lawyer refused to file the papers with the court, fearing she hadn't thought it over sufficiently. The feisty Balentine confronted him, and a bailiff nearly had to intervene."

Get the Story:
Lauren Ritchie: Woman clears tangled route to adoption (The Orlando Sentinel 11/17)
pwday

Relevant Links:
National Indian Child Welfare Association - http://www.nicwa.org

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