A gay couple are forced to "return" their adopted child, after only 12 days: now the two are fighting to get her back
Deciding to adopt a child is a very important step for a couple and certainly not a choice to be made lightly, without reflecting on the consequences of the action. Surely, offering a welcoming home and lots of love to a child who risks being raised in an institution is a noble initiative. In many countries, however, adopting is by no means an easy and straightforward process, but an experience marked by the constant and intrusive presence of bureaucracy. Juliano Peixoto de Pina and Johnatan Pereira de Araújo are a gay couple who decided to adopt a little girl, Aurora, but their adoption story is not as rosy as one might imagine.
Johnatan and his partner Juliano had managed after a long time to adopt a little girl named Aurora, who had been rejected by her biological mother and, for this reason, given up for adoption. Even after having undergone all the bureaucratic procedures, the couple saw their dream of being parents and offering a new family to that child slip from their hands. Aurora was with them for 12 days, until the woman who initially had custody decided to take her back and withdraw the adoption. The reason? They suspect that there are homophobic reasons behind this decision. What is certain is that Thays Veiga, the "foster mother" of little Aurora, who initially gave consent for Johnatan and Julio to adopt the child, suddenly changed her mind, claiming the right to adopt that little girl herself.
The day Juliano and Johnatan were supposed to sign the documents formalizing the adoption, Thays withheld her signature and asked for the help of a lawyer to start a lawsuit and get the girl back. Justice has incredibly established that there is a prior bond between Aurora and Thays Veiga, for which the judge ordered the immediate return of the child to the woman. The couple are currently waging a long battle in court to get their "daughter" back. The pain that the failure to adopt has brought to the lives of Johnatan and Juliano goes without saying, as well as to the mother of one of the two men, who is 78 years old and has Alzheimer's. "When is Aurora coming back?" the old woman continues to ask - for her, now completely overtaken by the disease, a little ray of hope was kindled when little Aurora entered their lives.
The final decision will rest with the Supreme Court of Justice and will be respected by both parties. Juliano and Johnatan may have to say goodbye to their "little daughter" after living for 12 days as a family - in which case, they will then have to decide whether to undertake another adoption process again in the future.
