Woman in adoption dispute: Couple 'schemed against me'

[TXmommyof2]

Who is stated as the father on the birth certificate?? Mr. DuPont?? And if thats the case why would he need to "establish his rights"? Especially if they were supposedly getting married.

[dancingroses]

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/462474.../#.T0XOZ_niFTY

This is awful

The quotes from the article above that I've included below answer some of the questions I saw from previous posters.

Gaffney said she met a man who told her he was Ed while surfing a popular dating website. The single mother, who is 29, said at first she was standoffish, but eventually warmed up to meeting him at a public place. Gaffney says that first date was at a restaurant just outside of Philadelphia and it led to many more dates and an intimate relationship.

Gaffney said her new love interest told her he was a businessman, divorced, worked for the C.I.A. and was related to one of the most well-known, wealthiest families in the country.

“He said, ‘My last name is Dupont,’ and I’m like, okay. And I said, ‘related to the Duponts?’ And he said, ‘Yes.’”

Gaffney says eventually Ed started talking about wedding bells.

“He also was talking about having kids. He said he never could have kids because him and his wife, she couldn’t get pregnant,” Gaffney said.

As their relationship continued, Gaffney got pregnant. She said at first Ed demanded she get an abortion and then changed his mind.

After the baby was born, Gaffney said Ed asked her to sign some papers that would ensure he could claim his rights as the baby’s father. Gaffney said although she didn’t understand the paperwork, she signed it anyway and the two shared caring for the baby while Ed rehabbed his home so they could all live together as a family.

One day, Ed didn’t return their child as planned. Instead, Gaffney said he dropped this bombshell:

“That’s when he told me that the paperwork I actually signed was me giving up the rights, not to him to have his rights. It was me giving up my rights so his wife could adopt my baby, and I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’”

As it turned out, Ed wasn’t Ed Dupont. He was Emmitt Dippold, who was still married and he and his wife were in the final stages of adopting the baby.

“I couldn’t even believe that someone was capable of something like that,” Gaffney said. She took Dippold and his wife to court to get the adoption overturned.

We reached out to Dippold at his office and his home for his side of the story, but were not able to speak with him.

In court documents, Dippold denied that he ever claimed to be a Dupont and says Gaffney may have assumed that because his email reads ‘ew-dupont.’ Dippold denied that he ever wanted Gaffney to have an abortion and denied that he ever talk about marriage.

He said Gaffney should have known all along that he was married because pictures of he and his wife were in plain view the times he and Gaffney were in his home together.

In the end, the Judge believed Gaffney and overturned the adoption based on fraud.

But the fight isn’t over because the Dippolds filed an appeal. Dippold’s attorney declined comment for our story, saying it’s inappropriate to talk about pending custody and adoption matters.

Then you have this from http://singleparents.about.com/od/le...ternity_2.htm:

How Can the Birth Father Voluntarily Establish Paternity?

If you would like to formally establish paternity, you should begin by asking the father of your child to voluntarily acknowledge paternity. In doing so, he agrees to accept responsibility for the child and pay child support until the child reaches the age of majority.
The birth father can voluntarily acknowledge paternity in two ways:

1. He can be present at the birth of your child and sign a Declaration of Paternity. (Sometimes this paperwork is called an Acknowledgment of Paternity.) This documentation is also necessary in order to have the father's name placed on the child's birth certificate, if you choose to do so.

2. If he is not present at the birth, he can complete an affidavit of paternity any time between the birth of the child up until the child turns 18. If this document is not completed before the birth certificate is issued, and you want the father's name listed on the birth certificate, you can apply to have the birth certificate altered to add the father's name at a later date.

... and this http://philadelphia.thebeehive.org/m...ign-voluntary-

[MadKatsMom]

The article isn't very clear and there's alot of he said, she said going on. Personally, I find it hard to believe she had no clue that he was married. I think his money won her over and she turned her head to things.
I don't think that the couple went in on this together intending to get a baby. Sounds like once the wife found out he fathered a child (or impregnanted another woman) they stuck together and conspired to keep the baby and raise it rather than pay this woman child support for the next 18 years. Who knows....all parties involved seem whacky.

I agree with all of this but especially the whacky part.

[dancingroses]

It's so sad

[dancingroses]

Duress is "Unlawful pressure exerted upon a person to coerce that person to perform an act that he or she ordinarily would not perform."

Fraud is illegal and is defined as:

fraud

1. A deception deliberately practiced in order to secure unfair or unlawful gain.

2. A piece of trickery; a trick.

3.a. One that defrauds; a cheat. b. One who assumes a false pose; an impostor.

So, if he defrauded her to gain the advantage of adoption , have her sign the forms under false pretenses, and depending on Philadeplias adoption laws and the time period etc, then it may actually come under duress.

On top of this, he simply waited out the waiting period. She went into their home. She thought it was going to be their home and he was divorced. She may have thought she was signing the paternity declaration due to not being married to him.

He had her sign it whilst she was recovering from birth didn't he? She also may not have completely understood the terminology but loved him and trusted him.

It could have happened exactly the way she said it, and even if they overturned the adoption, the appeal can take a long time, and they think about the 'best interests of the child' and he is still the childs father so until it's decided she would stay with him.

It's a truly awful situation.

[Babybug]

Still doesn't explain how she could have missed that his actual NAME was different on the papers she stupidly signed. This whole thing stinks and I'm pretty sure there is much more to this story then we will ever know. IMO she is twisting things to make herself look like a victim but she is actually just making herself look stupid. And as far as the other couple adopting the baby... well... if I was the wife I would have walked away from that mess. Not interested in my husband cheating on me and bringing me the result as a "make up" gift, thank you very much.

[OkieMama]

to okiemama, That is just insane. No other words.

Yep. They were sick.

[amylynn]

You know I would hate to be in her shoes. Unfortunately there are people out there who are really good schemers. Some people are just more trusting than others and are easier to take advantage of. I think Mr dipwad and his wife planned this all along and chose her because she was vulnerable and trusting. I don't think its shame on her for not seeing the signs...its shame on them for being such sick twisted people who stole another woman's baby. I hope the judge gives sole custody to this woman plus child support.

[TxMom]

I swear my ex-husband could sell an icecube maker to an Eskimo, he is the master manipulator.

It still doesn't make sense that the baby isn't back with her yet.