After three years of legal battles, Ohio father Benjamin Wyrembek has finally been reunited with the little son who was wrongfully taken from him. In Ohio high court right to unite father, son (Toledo Blade, 10/24/10), Fathers and Families Board Member Robert Franklin, Esq. recently explained:
This month, the Ohio Supreme Court finally cleared the way for Benjamin Wyrembek of Swanton to be united with his biological son, who will turn three years old this week. That should have happened long before now.
But for almost three years, attorneys for an adoptive couple in Indiana who have raised the child since birth have kept the case tied up in court, separating father and son.
In the vast majority of cases, adoption is a fine and noble act. But Mr. Wyrembek”s son has never needed adoption. He had a capable, loving father who wanted to care for him.
And from the very first, that fact was public knowledge. Within 30 days of the boy”s birth to a former girlfriend, Mr. Wyrembek registered with the Ohio Putative Father Registry. Then he filed suit to get custody of his son.
At any time since then, the couple that sought to adopt the boy could have done the obvious, fair, and kind thing: hand Benjamin Wyrembek his son and seek another child to adopt. Instead, they chose litigation.
In every court, Benjamin Wyrembek prevailed, because he is the child”s rightful father. And every time he did, opposing attorneys filed more motions and appeals.
Now the Blade reports:
The 3-year-old boy [Grayson] who has been at the center of a custody dispute was returned to his biological father in Swanton on Saturday by an Indiana couple who had raised the child from birth and had sought to adopt him. Jason and Christy Vaughn were ordered by the Ohio Supreme Court to deliver Grayson to Benjamin Wyrembek.
Fathers and Families has always been mindful of the fact that until this transfer, the Vaughns were the only parents that Grayson knew. However, the Vaughns created this circumstance and prolonged it through endless legal appeals, in effect using the concomitant delays as a strategy to deny Benjamin Wyrembek custody.
Unfortunately, the Vaughns now say, “For us, the fight isn’t over,” and have filed a new adoption case which will be heard December 1. Fathers and Families believes that the following is in the best interests of little Grayson:
The Vaughns should drop the suit, accept that Benjamin Wyrembek is Grayson’s father and custodial parent, and support their relationship.
Assuming that this happens, we urge Benjamin Wyrembek to offer the Vaughns a liberal visitation schedule under which Grayson can maintain his relationship with them, hopefully throughout his childhood and adult life.