From Deseret News archives:
Idaho senator slams LDS adoption agency
"I think LDS Family Services bears the responsibility of this tragedy. It is their fault," said Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R- Hayden Lake, in an interview with the Deseret Morning News.
Jed and Cally Nielson have had 6-month-old Harvey since July. The birth father, Matt Tenneson, 20, of Coeur d'Alene, is suing for custody. An Idaho judge recently ruled Tenneson should have primary custody. The Nielsons are fighting the ruling.
The Idaho senator says he believes LDSFS should have made more of an effort to contact the birth father before going through with the adoption.
However, LDSFS acted according to Idaho and Utah law, agency officials say.
"LDSFS followed the statute and did everything they were required to do," said LDSFS attorney David McConkie.
But that is the whole problem, Jorgensen says. What is required isn't enough. And the law needs to be changed, he says.
Jorgenson plans to co-sponsor a bill that will "beef up" regulations for private adoption agencies.
Two other Idaho legislators are studying the Nielson case and may soon weigh in on Jorgensen's proposal.
Meanwhile, two Utah legislators are proposing adoption laws for the 2008 session. One bill would make it easier for adoptees to find their birth parents. The other aims to clarify adoption law details.
Utah and Idaho law requires a private adoption agency to check the putative father registry before placing a baby with adoptive parents.
A putative father is a man who may be the child's biological father but who is not married to the child's mother on or before the date of the child's birth and has not established his paternity through legal proceedings. This registry is the birth father's declaration stating that he is the father and that he wants paternal rights.
LDSFS checked the Idaho registry. Tenneson's name was not on the list, according to LDSFS officials.
However, the Nielsons' attorney, Larry Jenkins, with Wood Crapo LLC, of Salt Lake City, says LDSFS isn't to blame for the Nielsons' woes. "The law even says it's the father's responsibility to take action," Jenkins said. "It provides the father an opportunity."
Jorgenson says he believes simply checking the registry isn't enough. "I absolutely feel LDSFS should have done more," he said. "They should have contacted the birth father."
