Newborn baby found in the garbage was discussed between two families

This is the story of a child who was abandoned at birth, wrapped in a blanket and left in a shopping bag in the trash, then adopted and now quarreled by two families (the biological family and the family who took him into foster care). 3 years. The case of little Miele from Ragusa, who was about to return to his biological family after being abandoned in 2020, was brought to the Parliament. Two interpellations have been filed in the last few hours that will shed light on the Catania judge’s decision to return the child to the woman who gave birth, supporting a possible appeal to “public power”. Until December 28th. His biological mother wanted to take him back. The Catania Court of Appeal found a formal flaw in the adoption procedure, which was confirmed by the Supreme Court.

So, unless there is a different pronunciation within a month, the little boy will have to return to his natural family after living with another family for 3 years – his entire life. The woman, who raises the child with her husband, says, “Our son did not choose to be the hero of this story, he cannot be asked to be a victim.” But let’s rewind the tape.

He left the child in the trash can

Miele’s story begins on November 4, 2020. In Ragusa, via Saragat, a newborn baby is found in a garbage bin in the residential neighborhood of Pianetti, with its umbilical cord still attached. The owner of a nearby butcher shop reported the situation to the police, but it was later revealed that he was the biological father of the child, who had an extramarital affair with a woman from Modica. The birth mother was identified on November 16: She admitted to giving birth at home and hiding her pregnancy from the child’s father, with whom she had another daughter.

The little boy, named Vittorio Fortunato and nicknamed Miele, was declared adoptable by the juvenile court in Catania and was thus entrusted to a family from the nearby province of Syracuse, following a preliminary adoption decision of the Catania court. to overturn his decision. Because the biological mother always claimed that she never wanted to adopt her child, even though the father was sentenced to two years in prison for abandoning the child at the beginning of 2023, and led the court to reopen the case. His case (for complicity in child abandonment) is still ongoing. The birth mother filed an appeal requesting the annulment of the child’s declaration of adoptability: According to her lawyers, the juvenile court did not confirm the existence of the child’s birth parents and denied them the right to “repent”.

“Leave Miele with her mother and father”

“Miele (we’ll call her that for privacy reasons) was just 16 days old when we first held her, a warm onesie and a very large pacifier in her hand; our eyes were full of wonder and our hearts were full of happiness. It seemed like the beginning of a wonderful love story, but soon the worst took place.” “With a decision we made, Miele will be removed from our family and ‘placed’ with her biological mother, whom she has never seen. Or I have met her,” the foster parents wrote in the petition they opened on Change.org, which currently has nearly 39 thousand signatures.

And so, after 3 years of living in foster care, the little boy may have to return to his birth mother; the court “may even authorize social services to use the police to forcibly remove the minor from school” in our home, “in the interest of the minor”…” The parents with whom the child has been raised so far objected.

What do the majority and the opposition want from Minister Nordio?

The story of little Miele was recently brought to Parliament: the majority and the opposition demanded, in two separate interpellations, to shed light on the case of the little boy from Ragusa. In the first parliamentary initiative (the first to sign was Union MP Simonetta Matone), Minister of Justice Carlo Nordio is asked “What initiatives are intended to be carried out for the protection of the fundamental rights of the minor and his private and family?” The second document, signed by deputies and senators of the Democratic Party, aims to ask “whether there are elements that could reveal a possible failure to respect the best interests of minors and their most intimate environment.”

The initiative of the majority of MPs, also signed by Maria Elena Boschi of Italy Viva and Enrico Costa of Azione, addresses the ministries of justice, interior and family and demands the launch of “an audit initiative on the work of the judicial offices concerned and allowing the recognition of the registry offices”. As the document underlines, “The Catania Court of Appeal annulled the child’s adoptability while he was in pre-adoption foster care, a ruling that violated the law.” Given that the adoptability decision was final and could no longer be reversed, it would not be possible for the biological mother to appeal the decision.

“The pre-adoption foster carers had no knowledge of the case and were not heard, in violation of paragraph 1 of Article 5 of Law No. 184 of 1983. The father was sentenced to two years in prison for abandoning the minor, while the mother was sentenced to 9 February 2024.” remanded for hearing with the next scheduled hearing – parliament reports the interpellation – Adoption sentence in the Catania juvenile court was annulled, the prosecutor appealed for the minor’s adoptability, and the Catania juvenile court did not decide on the adoptability with one sentence, but instead with the intervention of public power in three decisions ‘to the child’s mother’ decided to extradite him”.

However, in response to a question from the Democratic Party, it was stated to the Minister of Justice Carlo Nordio that “it is appropriate to establish an observatory on the implementation status of the regulation regarding the procedures regarding the placement of minors outside the family.” and initiate a sustained discussion with Parliament to implement new legal initiatives for better protection of the interests of the minor. We believe that judicial measures in highly controversial cases should not be characterized by excessive harshness but should instead start from the very beginning. a concrete assessment of the minor’s interests and an assessment that takes into account different family contexts”.

Objection of adoptive parents

Only one month left until December 28th. Foster parents write: “Now imagine a child, already rejected in the womb and bloodily abandoned at birth, being forced from one day to the next to abandon all the certainties, the world, the safe arms and warmth of mother and father, the only love he has ever known, to call him mother.” being forced into a context where everything is foreign, including the person who must begin…”.

And they end with a call: “Imagine for a moment the pain in the heart of such a young child, the feeling of loss, the despair of searching for his mother and father and not being able to find them again. There is nothing in this story. The best interest of the child. Our child has suffered an irreparable, indelible trauma.” “We don’t want to allow him to be forced into a second abandonment that will create a second kind of abandonment. He has only ever known one mother and one father: us, who love him unconditionally, just as he loves us madly.”

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