14-year-old gets wish, never must see parents
j Florida judge affirms last week that man
that raised her since birth is her legal father
SARASOTA.
Fin (AP) — Kun
lw>rly May* got her
wish. The H-year
old who was
switched nt birth in o hospital
never has to sen her biological
parents again, a judg« ruled Inst
week, siding with nurture over
nature.
Though he sidestepped the
girl's request for a "divorce"
from her birth parents, Circuit
judge Stephen Dakon affirmed
Robert Mays, the man who
raised her since birth, as her
legal father.
The judge said it would be
harmful to Kimberly if she were
furred to visit birth parents
Ernest and Regina Twigg "The
Twiggs have no legal interest in,
or right to, Kimberly Mays."
Dakon ruled. •
The dei tsion. eight davs after
a civil trial in which Kimberly
sought to sever all ties to the
Twiggs, left the teen-ager "yip
ping and yelping" for joy. one of
her lawyers said
"Kimberly finally feels she's
got her life back," said attorney
Arthur Ginsburg. who phoned
the girl as she vacationed at an
undisclosed spot. "She said she
w anted to kiss the judge "
George Kuss, another of Kim
berly'a attorneys, said. "It was a
pure situation of psychology
versus biology, and the court
Freud's genius was complex. Dell's
is simple.^Florence Nightingale
brought good health. Dell brings
good grades, t Cleopatra ruled
Egypt. Dell rules, period. Einstein
was relative. Dell is Absolute.E*/rx:
For Wise Guys
The Microcomputer Support Center offers a
complete line of Dell computers to match your
PC needs. Plus, if you buy now you can
receive additional back-to-school savings on
select 486 computer systems from Dell.
To complement your PC we carry Hewlett
Packard products, Supra fax/data modems,
. and popular software products from Microsoft,
Adobe, Aldus, Lotus, Wordperfect, and many
others - all at incredible educational discounts.
Come by and visit us today!
Microcomputer Support Center
r—
202 Computing Center
Monday - Friday
9 AM - 5 PM
346-4402
made it clear where it conies
down
The Twiggs sought visitation
rights at the trial, and they had
promised to appeal any decision
that went against them to the
U S. Supreme Court if neces
sarv Their attorney, John Blake
ly, was out of town and didn't
return phone tails.
Kimberly's future could
remain in the courts until she
turns 18, when she is legally old
enough to decide what she
wants.
Even through genetic tests
showed the Twiggs to be her
biological parents, the judge
said it would l>e detrimental to
Kimberly to give them that
standing legally. He declared
her "divorce" request moot.
The case began in rural
VVauchula when delivery room
identification tags at Hardee
Memorial Hospital were
switched, sending Kimberly and
another baby girl home with the
wrong parents.
The swap came to light in
1988, when the girl the Twiggs
took home and named Arlena
died of a heart defect. Genetic
tests showed Arlena wasn't
related to the Twiggs and that
Kimberly was their biological
daughter The two families have
been fighting over the girl ever
since.
What turned the blond,
bespectacled ninth-grader so
adamantly against her blood rel
atives were Mrs Twiggs
unproven suspicions — repent
ed on television tabloid and talk
shows — that Mays was some
how involved in the hospital
b.tbv switi h and was an abusive
lather
Ttie judge noted how Mrs
Twigg repeated those n< < usa
tions in letters to the editor ot
Kimberly 's hometown newspa
per and even signed other
‘Kimberly finally
feels she’s got her
life back.’
— Arthur Ginsburg,
attorney
people's names to them.
"It would be difficult to con
clude that this conduct showed
substantial concern for the wel
fare of Kimberly." the judge said,
adding that the Twiggs' position
is "that their interests, whatev
er they might be. are paramount."
The judge also said that con
duct created a "chasm” between
Kimberly and the Twdggs and a
1989 visitation agreement
between the two families is now
meaningless.
Kimberly appeared happy in
videos of her visits with the
Twiggs and their seven other
children in 1990, but Mays cut
the visits off after five sessions,
saying they wen* disrupting Kim
berly 's attitude and schoolwork
The Twiggs retaliated by seek
ing custody — an effort that failed
last year when a judge refused to
take Kimberly away from Ma\s
Mays' first wife died of cancer
in 1981. Kimberly considers his
second wife, Darlena. her psy
chological mother.
The mling could mark increas
ing recognition in the courts of a
child's preferences and emotional
bonds, said Elizabeth Bartholett,
a Harvard law school professor
who specializes in adoption
issues.
"It's time we move beyond the
notion that just because you are
the birth parents, you automati
cally have parental rights," Bart
holett said. "In terms of the ps\
chologit al and emotional reality,
it just doesn't make a lot of
sense.”
MIM \ U.AStlHIS
( #t( tdr luaiimtitm itimMs every
i ut-sijds morning 6 4'» a rn At the
U H MO I
■ | I
• Ml during the day or J4'> tOM during
* • i
Museum of Satuiai History » U>
closed every dev ihmigti Sept 14
Pholu/onr t.allerv w ,ng
e group sf*o» Sept l *t; Several artists
in I be group will be addressing the
theme < at: vorship m the Art World,
along with other members' works
Gallery hour* m 12 to $ pm for mum
information rail 4HV227B.
Deadline for submitting Ft Alt to the
krn«ntld front desk Suite tOOFXtt' i*
n ><>n the day before publication The
nrt%-. editor does not hove a tune
mar bine Ft Alt nm the day of the event
unless the event takes place before
noun
Vt ‘licet of event* nitb u donation or
admission (barge «,-// not be accepted
Campus events and those sc beau led j
nearest the publication date e dl he gtv
en tutor it y l he k mm* Id reserves the
ngnl to edit foi grammar and style Ft
Ah nut art a s/mteastuloble buns
r 1
RECORD GARDEN
1B3D Willamette • 344-7B2S
|i * Great selections of all typ>es of music I
i • Imports from around the world !
• Excellent worldw ide special order serv ice
i * I-shirts - collectibles - posters
| nO/ DISCOUNT OFF
III /0 Any Two Items
One coupon per person • Good for regular priced
items • Not valid for tickets • Expires 9-19-93 j
|^555£55555E55l!E5555E555555l
■ D0N'T GIVE UP THE SEARCH! TRY LOST
- *WP FQUMD IM ™E CLASSIFIED SECTION^