Baby Teleah returned to biological father; decision called a victory for father's rights

"I think they have less than 1 percent (chance of winning). It's almost a frivilous pursuit at this point," he said.

The Freis' attorney, Lance Rich, said Friday that this is a painful time for the couple and that they are asking for privacy.

Wiser said Bland was largely to blame for the ordeal because of misrepresentations she made to Achane and the adoption agency, which resulted in Archane being deprived of his rights and the Freis having to return custody of Teleah. 

"She came to Utah because Utah allows human trafficking in babies. That's the reason. Utah has the most lax rules and they allow children to come to Utah for the sole purpose of being adopted out and to try to deprive fathers of their legal rights. That's exactly what happened here," Wiser said.

Hutchins said he was "elated" by Friday's events.

"I think it's a great celebration for the biological family. My heart goes out to the prospective adoptive parents who I suspect didn’t know all the facts going in to this adoptive placement.

"I'm sure have spent a lot of money getting to the point they are now and now they don't have a child. That's the tragedy in this case but I choose to look at the positive of it — that a child's going back to a biological family that wanted to be involved in raising that child."

E-mail: marjorie@desnews.com