Family Courts
Sir,—Your articles on the Family Courts touched some important issues, from the viewpoint of the eloquent professionals for whom the Court provides a good livelihood. But will we hear from the clients, particularly from the children whose presumed inability to decide their own future is the
foundation of the whole structure? Will private pain and suffering surface 30 years later, as it has with the adoption law? Some decisions raise serious questions about the secrecy of the Courts. A mother, who through family tragedy places her baby in foster care, does not expect a Family Court later to decide that “bonding” entitles the foster mother to forcibly adopt the child, giving her eight children and the natural mother only the painful consolation of fortnightly access. I believe the public should know these decisions are being made and should not “leave it to the experts.” — Yours, etc.,
ALAN WILKINSON. November 4, 1984.
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Press, 6 November 1984, Page 16
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153Family Courts Press, 6 November 1984, Page 16
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