The two-year-old girl who was the subject of a legal battle between her natural and prospective adoptive parents is to be handed back to her natural parents next month.
The Supreme Court said yesterday it was reassured to hear from counsel for all sides of the baby Ann case that the process of preparing the child for transfer to the custody of her natural parents was going well and "should be satisfactorily concluded" in January.
Chief Justice Mr Justice John Murray, in a ruling which was made public yesterday, said the transfer process could not have gone as well as it had without the full co-operation and commitment of the couple who were the prospective adoptive parents.
Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that the child known as baby Ann, who has lived with her prospective adoptive parents since she was three months old, was to be returned to her natural parents on a phased basis.
In a landmark decision, the five-judge court unanimously upheld an appeal by the natural parents of the girl against a High Court decision directing that Ann remain with her prospective adoptive parents. The necessary compelling reasons had not been put forward to displace the constitutional presumption that Ann's welfare would be best achieved in the care and custody of her natural parents, it held.
It ruled that Ann's present custody with the prospective adopters is unlawful and that she must be returned to her natural parents on a phased and sensitive basis to be decided by the court in line with professional advice.
Ann was born in July 2004 when her natural parents were unmarried students and they placed her for adoption. This was done in November of that year, and since then Ann has remained with the prospective adoptive parents although no final adoption order has been made.
The natural parents married in January 2006, constituting a family unit under the Constitution, and started proceedings to regain custody of Ann.
Delivering the Supreme Court ruling, the chief justice said the court could not but be conscious of the fact that the prospective adoptive parents had to face a "tremendously difficult and distressing situation". In spite of all these difficulties, emotional and otherwise, they had made every effort to co-operate and assist in that transfer process in the interests of the child.
The court should and did acknowledge the special commitment they had given in "these difficult circumstances" which was "greatly to their credit and humanity". "Clearly they were motivated in the best interests of the child in order to ensure that the process could be completed with the minimum of difficulties for the infant concerned," the chief justice said.
The natural parents had also co-operated sensitively with the prospective adoptive parents. This was a difficult case for all the parties and involved a great deal of emotion.
Fortunately, in the field of adoption, the circumstances which arose are very rare, Mr Justice Murray added.
The court had been informed of the steps put in place to bring about a gradual and successful transfer of custody, he said.
The process was sensitive primarily to the needs of the child but also to the difficulties of the prospective adoptive parents of a process leading to the end of their custody of the child.
The final court order directed that the child be transferred to her natural parents in accordance with the arrangements proposed by the HSE.