Below is his story.
My name is Keary Watson, and I am the proud father of a beautiful baby girl named Elizabeth Renee Watson.
She was born on August 11th 2010.
I want to start out by thanking you for taking the time to visit this site and taking the time to hear my story.I love my daughter dearly and will do everything in my power to have her home with me where she belongs.
My daughter Elizabeth has recently been placed with a family for adoption without my knowledge or consent.
Her mother, Rebecca Prestwich, made the terrible decision (because of strong pressure by her Mormon family) to "sell" my daughter to a family within the LDS church in the state of Utah without my knowledge or consent. Rebecca has signed away her parental rights and placed Elizabeth with a wealthy adoptive family. She did this AFTER Elizabeth was two months old. As Elizabeth’s father I cannot comprehend how Rebecca could make the choice to sell our beautiful daughter away to strangers. These actions sadden my heart. I have always made Rebecca aware that I am Elizabeth's father and will always take care of my child. I cannot understand why she would have chosen this option but sadly she has.
I pray that Rebecca can live with the decisions that she has made and I seek comfort in knowing that I will correct the bad choice Rebecca has made and will never give up trying to do so.
It appears as though I have a bigger battle ahead of me to get Elizabeth back home than I ever imagined.
Over the last two weeks I have been made aware of A LOT of other cases similar to mine.
This is prevalent throughout the U.S. with many birth mothers doing this in the state of Utah because of laws that exclude birth fathers. I am fighting for my legal rights as her biological father to get my daughter back. I did NOT give up my daughter for adoption. I would NEVER give my daughter up for adoption.
I am her natural father and I am her recognized legal father on her birth certificate.
I have been a part of my daughter's life since the moment of conception and have continued to be her father in the fight to get her back home with me where she belongs.
Please help me to spread the word and what I am fighting for.
From reading other cases it is people like you who are helping make a difference. Again, I would like to thank you in advance for any help you give. Words cannot express my gratitude.
I am requesting donations to cover legal expenses, travel and accommodations in Utah where my daughter is being kept. Please visit the link if you can help.
http://apps.facebook.com/fundrazr/activity/08e22911a5dc42a39688c50f0549fe92
I would also like to ask everyone to take the time to write the Utah Attorney Generals office and the US Department of Justice about my case. The more people start talking about baby brokering/human trafficking by people abusing Utah laws - the more the authorities are going to look into it.
Thank you,
Keary Kase Watson.
Attorney General’s Office E-Mail: uag@utah.gov
Justice Mr. Dustin Pead
US Department of Justice
185 South State Street, Suite 400
Salt Lake City, Utah.84111
Phone: 801-524-6924 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 801-524-6924 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Fax: 801-524-5682
Various Other Representatives :
lfowlke@utah.gov, react@reason.com, subscribe@reason.com, letters@reason.com, rmenlove@utah.gov, bcferry@utah.gov, jdraxler@utah.gov, fhunsaker@utah.gov, curtwebb@utah.gov, kwgibson@utah.gov, gdonneson@utah.gov, gfroerer@utah.gov, neilhansen@utah.gov, lshurtliff@utah.gov, bdee@utah.gov, rgreenwood@utah.gov, pray@utah.gov, coda@utah.gov, daagard@utah.gov, kgarn@utah.gov, jfisher@utah.gov, rogerbarrus@utah.gov, sherylallen@utah.gov, pauln@utah.gov, jgowans@utah.gov, cduckworth@utah.gov, jseelig@utah.gov, rbecker@utah.gov, christinejohnson@utah.gov, dlitvack@utah.gov, jdougall@utah.gov, rozmcgee@xmission.com, janicefisher@utah.gov, jbiskupski@utah.gov, lwiley@utah.gov, ronbigelow@utah.gov, nhendrickson@utah.gov, koryholdaway@comcast.net, markwheatley@utah.gov, priesen@utah.gov, csmoss@utah.gov, ehutchings@utah.gov, jdunnigan@utah.gov, lhemingway@utah.gov, toddkiser@utah.gov, jbird@utah.gov, wharper@utah.gov, tcosgrove@utah.gov, mwalker@utah.gov, karenmorgan@utah.gov, merlynnnewbold@utah.gov, greghughes@utah.gov, cwimmer@utah.gov, melbrown@utah.gov, gsnow@utah.gov, jmathis@utah.gov, ksumsion@utah.gov, cfrank@utah.gov, ssandstrom@utah.gov, bdaw@utah.gov, keithgrover@utah.gov, cherrod@utah.gov, sclark@utah.gov, blockhart@utah.gov, atilton@utah.gov, mikemorley@utah.gov, ppainter@utah.gov, bwinn@utah.gov, brad.king@ceu.edu, kaymciff@utah.gov, blast@utah.gov, bbowman@utah.gov, mnoel@kanab.net, dclark@utah.gov, surquhart@utah.gov
I read this last night and it made me SO angry I went upstairs and woke my husband up at 12:45 a.m. and yelled for a good solid 15 minutes.
ReplyDeleteTHIS MUST STOP. I am so fed up with Mormons being involved with this kind of flesh peddling, all in the name of "building families." How can that mother and those adoptive "parents" look at themselves in the mirror? I know they feel perfectly justified in what they have done because after all, it's all about love right?
I thought this could wait a year or two longer, but now I see I have to, I must speak *now.* My conscience will not let me rest until I have addressed this issue with the LDS church leaders in SLC, face to face.
I am so angry right now over how this father and his daughter have been treated. It is a righteous anger, a searing white hot anger that starts in the middle of my chest and radiates throughout my body. Last night and this morning as I poured my heart out to the Lord about this, I have felt the confirmation that changing adoption in the LDS community is one of my primary callings in life. A few years ago, my mom told me, "Melynda - you are going to be the Harriet Beecher Stowe." I have long poo-pooed that notion, but this morning...I have a witness she is right. One little old lady who wrote a story changed how people thought and felt about slavery.
I cannot, I will not rest until this wholesale peddling of flesh is done away with in the LDS church.
Thank you so much for bringing this story to my attention - I know it will prove through time to be the catalyst that finally moved me from a participant/observer to an participant/activist.
Much love,
M.
Good morning Melynda,
ReplyDeleteMy twin from the East Coat, I adore you. You write so eloquently. Yes you will be one of the people to help change the ideas. We have to continue to speak out against the wrongs and injustice. One time of these things happening is too many. As you speak out you will be called names and told hurtful things. Some things I have been told are you signed away your rights so just live with it, don't make it harder on other people. Things have changed alot in the last 18 years and you just don't understand. Wouldn't you rather have placed your child than be infertile, think about there loss, you just had a bad experience.
The facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Give-Elizabeth-Back-to-Her-Daddy-Keary/123989397664887
and you can go to pound puppy
More about fathers rights
http://poundpuplegacy.org/fathers_rights_violation_cases
I do not know the whole story. I do know some of the facts. My sister lives in Portland and I will find out if she has heard anything about this. I'm sure this man is not perfect. After all he was not married to his daughters mother, right. He did have premarital sex, he should have used protection. What was he thinking. You know he might have even drank, smoked, or even used drugs in his lifetime. Where as this LDS couple just wants a baby, and they have been sealed in the temple. They are stable and married and it is about love after all.
Sometimes the moral high ground is above the laws of the land. I know Utah you have to not only prove you are the father but prove you have supported the mother and want the child plus get paperwork in and aproved within a certain amount of time to the courts . If he didn't know his daughter was even leaving the state of Oregon how the hell is he to know every states law regarding fathers rights in adoption.
Let's step back for a moment. If the child is not placed for adoption does the father still have to pay child support even if he was only their for 30 seconds to create the child. Yes, the father is responsible for the child. But he can get his rights taken away without any say in it to put the same child up for adoption. That is absolutely wrong in every sense.
Jeannette
I have known Keary for over 20 years. I know he is not perfect...either am I. Noone is. However, you don't have to be perfect to love your child or want to raise them. I have 2 beautiful daughters and although I am not perfect...they think I am. That's all that really matters at the end of the day.
ReplyDeleteI want my dear friend Keary to be able to feel that same way :)
Sandy,
ReplyDeleteI know none of us are perfect. I absolutely do want to know this whole story. I can't imagine this mans pain.
Please know this paragraph was me having some sarcasm.
"I do not know the whole story. I do know some of the facts. My sister lives in Portland and I will find out if she has heard anything about this. I'm sure this man is not perfect. After all he was not married to his daughters mother, right. He did have premarital sex, he should have used protection. What was he thinking. You know he might have even drank, smoked, or even used drugs in his lifetime. Where as this LDS couple just wants a baby, and they have been sealed in the temple. They are stable and married and it is about love after all."
Please let Keary know there are a lot of people that never met him that are on his side. No father's rights should be taken away like this. It would be one thing if he has abused his daughter, then courts should step in. But for a mother to leave the state and adopt out a child without the fathers consent that is repulsive.
Jeannette
Sandy,
ReplyDeleteCan you give us more information on how this happened?
Jeannette
Sandy - We would LOVE more information, as would the owners of Birth Mother, First Mother forums. http://www.firstmotherforum.com/ We want to do what we can to get word out about this situation with Keary.
ReplyDeleteAnd what Jeannette said about Keary not being "perfect" - she (unfortunately) knows what it is like in the LDS adoption scene. If a natural parent isn't above reproach in EVERY way, then they are assumed by many to be horrible terrible awful no good very bad people amen and amen, forever and ever. Jeannette's comment was very tongue in cheek about being "perfect." NO ONE lives up to their code of PERFECTION, which is why LDS folks feel perfectly justified in doing what they have done to Keary. :(
The point is it DOESN'T MATTER if he isn't perfect. NONE of us are, just like you observed. What matters is he loves his daughter and wants to take care of her. Period.
Please let him know there are at least two LDS mamas who are on his side.
Melynda
I can give you a link to his story and the facebook page we set up for his cause...http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=172628579437933
ReplyDeleteI for one, am VERY glad to know that not everyone in the LDS supports this awful practice.
p.s. I think Sandy got the sarcasm, I did...if only people perfect-in-every-way could be allowed to have children, then most everyone in the world would be childless.
Hi Ladies,
ReplyDeleteJoJo was correct. I most certainly got the sarcasm :) It would be most helpful for the both of you to continue on this journey of trying to make a change for what you feel is right. Not just for Keary's sake but many other fathers that have lost their children to the LDS church adoption laws. As you both know and are aware this is no easy battle. Money speaks volumes in the state of Utah.
I am a firm believer that problems can become opportunties when the right people come together. I don't know how you came to find Keary's story but I am sure glad you did. I can feel from your words that you are passionate women. Like T. Alan Armstrong said...
~ If there is no passion in your life, then have you really lived? Find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happen FOR you, TO you and BECAUSE of you. ~
I don't know what more information you are looking for but if you ask the questions I can try to help. Please feel free to spread the word. I am working on giving information to a Black fathers radio show that would like to do an upcoming show on this topic. They will be researching information soon and I will make sure to invite you to call in as it would be great to hear from people that are educated regarding LDS ways.
The bottom line is this...
Keary wants his daughter back and I working to help him achieve that. :)
On behalf of Keary and myself ~ Thank you for your support and kind words.
Sandy - Thanks for getting back to us. I know the details that Jane and Lorraine are looking for are specifics about the case: Where the baby was conceived/born, the state of residency for both parents, where and when he filed paperwork (Utah? Oregon? Both?), what kind of paper work has been filed, the timing of the filings, etc. Jane and Lorraine are LIONS in this arena - if you get this information to them, word WILL get out. They are both first mothers who lost babies during the baby snatch era (BSE) and are *passionate* about natural parents' rights.
ReplyDeleteKeary has my personal email - if you want, you can get it from him and email me directly.
Thanks again for letting us know what is going on -
Melynda
Sandy,
ReplyDeleteEven though the following does not matter legally it matters to people for empathy. What was the relationship like between both parents? Was Keary there for doctors appointments during pregnancy? Did he see his daughter at the hospital. Did he contribute at all financially since the birth? How often did he see his daughter? When did Elizabeth leave Oregon with her mother? When did Elizabeth's mother sign away her rights? Did Elizabeth's mother talk about adoption before the birth? You can contact me on facebook, I am on Keary's page.
Jeannette
Melynda,
ReplyDeleteSO Sorry I haven't gotten back to you sooner. I have been so busy this past week trying to get things done in time for Christmas while answering alot of questions and emails like yours. :)
Where the baby was conceived/born?
Elizabeth was conceived in LA California but born in Utah.
The state of residency for both parents?
Keary lives in Portland Oregon now and Rebecca in Utah.
Where and when he filed paperwork (Utah? Oregon? Both?) What kind of paper work has been filed, the timing of the filings, etc.
Keary signed a voluntary declaration at the hospital the day Elizabeth was born and he is on the birth certificate. He also just filed a commencment of paternity 2 days ago in Utah.
Jane and Lorraine are LIONS in this arena - if you get this information to them, word WILL get out.
I do not know who Jane and Lorraine are but if they are willing to spread the word that would be helpful. I hope this helps :)
Take care,
Sandy
Jeanette,
ReplyDeleteAgain, SO sorry for the delay!
Let me start by saying Rebecca has said that adoption is a selfless act of love. I do believe this is what she has been told over and over again by the LDS church and her family. I agree with this statement if perhaps you are a 16 year old rape victim or perhaps someone with a drug habit and do not know who the father is or the father wants no involvement and you cannot provide for the child etc. However, this is NOT the CASE here and I cannot disagree more with that statement from Rebecca or the church or her family. She is a 36 year old woman who has willingly given up her baby for adoption while the entire time the father has said he is responsible and will take care of her.
Rebecca has been told how bad she is ( baby out of wedlock with a black man ) by the family who raised her. She has been told by her family that this is the best way for Elizabeth otherwise Elizabeths future will probably end up dismal and on welfare if she lets Keary have her. I find this statement to be very racial as the parents have never met Keary. How do you know what someone is capable of if you have never met them? They don't know him at all. I see and sense that the family ASSUMES that because he is a black man Elizabeths life will be second class to none. This disgusts me!
Normally I would show empathy for Rebecca and assume she has made these choices because of pressure from her family. I do understand the pressure of a LDS family in this type of situation. BUT what I do know is Rebecca has had plenty of opportunites offered to her to be elsewhere and choose otherwise or both and has still taken this road therefore my empathy has dwindled to nothing for her.
I have no problem answering most of your questions as they are valid questions however when I started to type it out here I realized when answering one question it turns out to answer many more and is very very long. I will try to do the best I can. Maybe send you an answer a day on facebook or something?
Take care :)
Sandy
I would like to clear up some confusion here. Elizabeth is with her mother. She is not being adopted.
ReplyDeletewww.beckyprestwich.blogspot.com
This has gotten far to out of control. There is my side of the story and Keary's side of the story. We both love our little girl like any parent would. He and I are trying to work things out between us in terms of custody and this is something that him and I need to work out. I have my parental rights and him and I are working things out. Keary will see his daughter soon and I know that he is and will be an amazing father. How lucky is Elizabeth to have two parents that are in love with her and that she is the center of both of our worlds. My heart goes out to Keary at this time and I know that I have made some poor choices, but am working to make things right. He has wanted to be a father ever since he knew that he was going to be one. The past is the past and I am looking forward to the future. Keary and I will parent Elizabeth and this story will have a happy ending <3 <3 <3
http://www.lottenbshow.com/blog/blog/baby-put-up-for-adoption-without-fathers-knowledge/
ReplyDeleteLets not start cheering and high five-ing just yet. Although I appreciate that she isn't slandering my name in this post and is actually acknowledging that I am Elizabeth's father, it does not change the fact that a legal document was signed by Becky relinquishing her parental rights and naming the Doman family as Custodial parents on December 1st 2010. There is no document stating that this relinquishment has been withdrawn, reversed or annulled. There is no material evidence that proves that the adoption process is no longer in motion. There is no proof that Elizabeth is in fact with Becky and not with the Doman family. Becky claims she and Elizabeth are together but refuses to give me an address. Things just don't add up. The only thing that we are discussing is why she continues to try to place Elizabeth for adoption and why she has been hiding her from me in Utah where she claims she is unhappy and suffering with no family support. I honestly don't know where my daughter is and hearing her voice just isn't enough to bite into. Becky is a great politician and this appears to be just another attempt at saving face and further weakening my position.
ReplyDeleteFYI -
ReplyDeleteThis is the last comment being published on this. Give Becky time to prove she has withdrawn her relinquishment of rights. We all know how long our court system can take to verify these things. My post was not about a personal vendetta but pointing out things wrong in our adoption system.
Jeannette
I talked to the domans last night about some sort of a legal document that proves the adoption is off. Brandon told me that he asked paul, his attorney and paul said that as soon as they returned elizabeth to me, it canceled out the relinquishment papers, and I regained the same parental rights I had before signing the relinquishment papers. I totally lucked out with the domans. They are really good people that did the right thing. There was not even a question or a fight when they knew how devastated I was. They said they didn't want to take a baby from a mother and a father that want to parent her. I made a mistake and realized it, after the fact. I was devastated and heart broken and knew that I would not be able to live with my decision. I feel like there is a reason that I had to go through this experience. I am becoming more aware of the effects of adoption on the mother and the child. Though it can be a good thing in the right circumstance, this experience with me, keary and elizabeth was not right. I am happy that it is behind me and hope that keary will forgive me and that he and I can quickly work things out so that we can both parent elizabeth.
ReplyDeleteYou always need legal documentation of something this serious. I suggest you take noone's word for it and get something written up from your attorney for the Domans to sign etc. MORE IMPORTANTLY for Keary to have the documentation so he can believe you. It doesn't matter what I think or anyone else thinks at this point BUT it sure matters what Keary thinks and to put him through this torture for the last three months and not provide this so he can be rest assured is wrong. I think if you are telling the truth you DEFINATELY owe it to him, yourself, and Elizabeth to ensure things are done legally and responsibly moving forward. Get legal documentation!
ReplyDeleteJeannette I agree with you. Whatever happens in this situation the bottom line remains...These laws MUST change and it's going to take an army of people to try to make that happen.
If his child goes back to her father now it will most surely do a whole bunch of psychological damage that will be painful and lifelong to her.
ReplyDelete