Tamia's family says fight with Utah agency not over

CHICAGO — A Chicago family reunited with an infant at the center of an interstate custody battle said their fight against the Utah adoption agency, which they say pressured the baby's mother into giving up the child, is not over.

They now hope to bar the agency from doing business in Illinois.

"If we can just stop these types of people from coming into Illinois, taking our children out of Illinois and putting them in different states, I've done my job," said Maria McDonald, the grandmother of 6-month-old Tamia.

Tamia was reunited with her birth mother and grandmother Thursday night at O'Hare International Airport.

"It's the best moment in my life," said Tamia's mother, 20-year-old Carmen McDonald, after the family reunion.

A custody battle over Tamia persisted until this past week when an adoption agency in suburban Salt Lake City declined to place the girl with a Utah couple after those potential parents were arrested on drug possession charges.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services officials went to Salt Lake City earlier Thursday to pick up Tamia.

Tamia's mother and grandmother sued the adoption agency in January to get Tamia back, claiming the agency pressured Carmen McDonald into giving up the child.

Cook County (Ill.) Judge Michael J. Murphy ordered Wednesday that Tamia be turned over to Illinois officials who would place her in the Chicago home that Carmen McDonald shares with her mother.

The Utah juvenile court system on Thursday approved releasing the baby to the Illinois child services officials.

"She looks good, she looks healthy," said Maria McDonald. "She looks like she was taken care of."

Carmen McDonald signed away her parental rights in a Salt Lake motel in December after working with A Cherished Child adoption agency.

The McDonalds' attorney, Robert Fioretti, said Thursday the lawsuit against the agency continues. He said he plans to seek an injunction barring the agency from doing business in Illinois.

Fioretti said he also plans to seek financial damages for the McDonalds, who will return to court April 7.