- Daily Mail UK -
A heavily pregnant woman and her fiance have gone on the run after social workers threatened to take away their baby at birth.
Kerry Robertson, 17, and Mark McDougall, 25, had been told that she was not bright enough to raise their child and that they would have to give him up.
It was another blow for the couple, whose wedding this year was halted just 48 hours before the ceremony in a row over whether Miss Robertson was intelligent enough to marry.
Miss Robertson, who is 29 weeks' pregnant, has since been told the couple will be allowed only a few hours with their baby - a boy they have already named Ben - before he is taken into care and placed with foster parents.
Desperate to keep their family together, the pair fled their home yesterday for a secret safe house.
Last night, Miss Robertson, who has mild learning difficulties, said: 'I have been out of my mind with worry about my unborn baby being taken away.
'Although Ben isn't born yet, I already love my baby and know I will be a good mum. Mark and I talk to him inside me every day and tell him we love him.
'We've already bought him clothes and my cousin, who recently had a baby, has handed down a beautiful crib for him.
'But social workers aren't even giving me a chance to be a mum. It's as if social workers are trying to rule my life and I just couldn't take the pressure from them any more.'
Mr McDougall, an artist, said they had made their decision after seeing minutes of a meeting this week where social workers claimed their baby could suffer 'emotional harm' if left with Miss Robertson - an allegation they say is 'ridiculous'.He said: 'It was clear to Kerry and I that although social workers recently appeared to backtrack, telling us they would not make any decision about our baby until he is born, the truth is they intend to take him away. Kerry was in pieces.
'She is pregnant with her first baby so we don't see how, before he is even here, social workers can say she won't be a good parent. The pressure that social workers have been putting both of us under is huge.
'When Kerry found out she was pregnant a care worker mentioned she might not be able to keep the baby but we never believed they would do something as cruel as to take him away.
'We are constantly lying awake at night worrying what the next day will bring.
'Not only am I extremely angry and upset about the way we've been treated, I have become worried for Kerry's and our unborn baby's health. I defy anyone to put up with what we've had to put up with.'
The couple, who left their home in Fife, Scotland, after a leaving party for friends and family, say they do not know how long it will be before they can return.
A family law expert said: 'If Miss Robertson gave birth in Fife and then fled with the baby, after the local authority had got a care order, she would be liable for child abduction.
'But by fleeing while pregnant, Miss Robertson has not broken any law, as far as I'm aware.
'If she has her baby outside the jurisdiction of Fife council, they no longer have any power to take the child into care.
'Rather, they would have to locate her and alert the relevant council who would have to apply for a removal order themselves.'
Miss Robertson has been in the care of her grandmother since she was nine months old after her parents were unable to care for her, with her welfare overseen by social workers at Fife Council.
She and Mr McDougall decided to marry after she became pregnant. But in a highly unusual step, Dunfermline Register Office refused to sanction the marriage after Fife Council wrote a letter of objection.
Under British law, a registrar can refuse to marry a couple if he believes one or both parties lack the mental capacity to understand what marriage is about.
Their case has been referred to the European Human Rights Commission, which is investigating whether Fife has broken human rights laws.
May God protect them both and their precious baby boy!
ReplyDeleteMany intelligent people are unfit parents. Parenting isn't just about smarts. It's also about compassion, something the Fife Council seems to have lost. Marriage isn't about intelligence; it's about love and forgiveness (among other things). Mr. McDougall is right in applying logic to the question- if the young woman has never been a parent (and isn't strung out on drugs or booze), how can they determine beyond a doubt that she will be unfit? It seems you would have to be 100% sure of this to deny a couple their biological right to raise their child.
ReplyDeleteMary take over! Jesus take over! St. Peter said obey God rather than men. May the parents have their baby in peace and be it's parents too!
ReplyDeleteMay God bless and protect them.
ReplyDeleteThis young couple have the sense the ability to protect Life It says a lot for them - it exposes the hypocrites that are determined to take away this young couple's right to have a Family It also shows that the young Mother has a higher ability than those that claim she cannot have the intelligence to be a Mother - I suspect there is alot more going on here than we are told - Possibly the Unborn child was promised to another couple for MONEY
ReplyDeleteWell the couple was smart enough to know how to conceive the child, and the mother knows she needs baby clothing and a crib and has those items ready for her newborn. She meets the qualification of caring to raise her own child. The couple has stayed in a relationship through her pregnancy, already longer than some couples. As Forrest Gump said, Stupid is as stupid does; looks like the social worker is stupid not the mom.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that they were able to understand the context of the minutes they read from the meeting and the threat it represented to them and their baby.
ReplyDeleteThey sound pretty intelligent to me!!
May God protect them and give them all a safe place to live in love and peace.
Not again! 30 years ago I was a married lady with a blind child and the social workers plotted to take away my Mave. Why? Because I had cancer, with only a 20% chance of living 2 years. We lived in Alaska, usa. The social workers thot they needed to take our child and give her to a deserving family who could bond to her early on. Well, we stole our own child and hid in another city until the concern ended. We then went to Lourdes and other Marian shrines and I was healed! I say that social workers are like monkeys with handgrenades..knowing just enough to blow up families, but not enough to understand the damage they do. I have met good ones, but they have left the profession due to morals. God bless this couple giving life and love to their Ben. Lady mary LGCHS
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of so called "smart" people who have no idea what marriage is all about. They think it is one big party and when the going gets tuff, they get divorced. Leave this poor couple alone.
ReplyDeleteMay God watch over them and us. Jesus, Mary and Joseph protect all families throughout the whole world!
ReplyDeleteJesus, Mary, Joseph be with this couple. Protect them from this nonsense. They deserve a chance.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to Social Service people, you just can't fix "STUPID". Instead of trying to help the young couple, they try to destroy the family unit.This couple deserves a chance to make it in life and I pray that Jesus, Joseph and Mary will keep them safe and protect them from the insanity of social services.
ReplyDeleteIn the name of Jesus may the Power and Presence of the Holy Spirit, Lady Wisdom, stand guard over this poor couple and protect them from the talons of these Harpies. And may the curse of the Lord's Justice come after those who would seek to steal, kill and destroy this family and their dreams.
ReplyDeleteAmen
This is what you get with Government run health care, Be careful of what you wish for, you just might get it. God please protect this young couple and all others who are being pressured and forced into situations that are not God's will. This is coming to the U.S. just wait and see. We need to pray and hope in God's protection.
ReplyDeleteFirst steps to a totalitarian government.
ReplyDeleteStand together, people.
I'd like to read a follow up on this couple and their Ben over the years. Has excellent movie potential; any freedom loving screen writers out there?
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of Mary and Joseph fleeing to Nazereth to give birth to Jesus. What has this world become? When an innocent mother is denied the right to take care of her Child? Mary Take over, Sacred Heart of Jesus, we place our trust in you-St. Jude we pray for your intercession in the lives of these people.
ReplyDelete