I am writing this petition with a heavy heart and a desperate plea hoping to reverse the termination of my parental rights, the parental rights of my son’s father, and to stop the forced adoption of our beloved son. I believe that our progress and efforts over the past year and a half are significant and warrant a second chance to prove ourselves as a capable and loving parents.

My son has been in the custody of the Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) in foster care for a little over two years now. Shockingly, after just 7 months of my son being in their care, DCFS decided to change the goal from "return to parent" to adoption, subsequently seeking the termination of my parental rights and that of his father’s as well, who is the non-offending parent. This decision was made without affording me or my son’s father a reasonable or fair chance to prove ourselves and reunify with our son.

I want to emphasize that, while I admit that I was struggling during the initial stages, I was making progress. Today, I stand before you, 22 months (1 year and 10 months) clean and sober, I am employed full-time as a personal care aid, and living in my own apartment. I participate in individual and group therapy, my mental health is stable, and I have completed all of the required parenting classes mandated by DCFS. I have also taken additional classes to enhance my knowledge and understanding of my son's special needs and how to properly care for him. 

My son’s father has also maintained his sobriety, taken all required classes and additional ones to improve his knowledge and understanding of our son’s special needs as well. He is employed full-time as a private contractor and also has his own home. 

We are fully committed and capable of caring for our son, meeting all of his needs, and ensuring his happiness and well-being. There is no valid reason to terminate our parental rights. I implore the circuit court judge presiding over my case, to reverse the termination and change the goal back to "return to parent," giving my child, myself, and his father the opportunity to be reunited as a family.

The bond between a parent and their child is sacred and transcends time and distance. Though we have been apart, I know in my heart that our bond remains. I am confident that with the guidance of therapists and other professionals, we can make the transition from foster care back to our custody as smooth and trauma-free as possible. We are willing to do everything necessary to ensure his adjustment and well-being.

My son's best interest lies in being reunited with his mother and father and to grow up along side his big sister, surrounded by his biological family, who love and miss him and are anxiously awaiting his return home. The time he has spent with his foster family and the bond they share does not outweigh the importance of the parent-child relationship, familial ties, and the constitutional right we hold to parent our own child so long as we are not a danger or a threat to our child's safety, which we are not.

Furthermore, we have supportive family members willing to step in and take over guardianship and care for our son until the court feels we are fully ready. I have already remedied the issues that led to my son's removal in the first place. We are simply asking for a chance. A chance to prove that we can be the mother and father that our son requires and deserves. 

It is my firm belief that sticking to rigid timelines before reunification is taken off the table is detrimental to parents and their children, almost guaranteeing the destruction of families. Recovery takes time, and sometimes it cannot be achieved within a strict 12-month timeframe. However, I stand as living proof that it can be done.

I am a mother fighting for my natural right to raise, love, and enjoy my own child, whom I have not seen in nine long months. I implore Judge Papile, with utmost sincerity, to reconsider the termination of my parental rights, the parental rights of my son’s father, Noe Medrano, and to reverse the judgment. Change the goal back to reunification, granting our son and us the opportunity to be reunited and allowing us to be the parents my son requires and deserves.

Please sign this petition to join me in urging the honorable judge presiding over my case to review the termination of our parental rights and provide my son and us with the chance for a brighter future together. My son deserves the opportunity to be raised by this newfound and bettered version of his parents.

Thank you for your time and support.