We assisted a CourtNav client, Mrs L, seeking protection for herself and her children against the birth mother of her adopted children. This is a rare association under the Family Law Act 1996, found under s62(3).
Mrs L’s two children, a boy and a girl, were removed from their birth mother by the local authority when they were very young and care proceedings commenced. The court ordered the children be placed for adoption and Mrs L and her husband applied to adopt the children. These became contested proceedings after the birth mother opposed the adoption. An adoption order was made in 2014. For Mrs L and the children’s safety, their details were made confidential. Around this time, the daughter was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to the harm exposed to her prior to removal.
Thereafter, Mrs L established a PO Letterbox contact between the birth mother and the children. In 2018, the birth mother began to act in a concerning way. For example, Mrs L discovered that the birth mother had approached the children’s previous foster carer and confirmed to them that she knew the area the children were living. Thereafter, the birth mother continued to contact Mrs L and her husband. It became apparent that the birth mother knew the Mrs L’s address and contact details. Most concerning was in 2021 when a letter written to the children was posted to the address from the birth mother, disclosing the death of a birth father and disclosure of half siblings which had a derailing effect on the children.
Despite multiple reports from Mrs L to the adoption support team and many discussions with the birth mother, this continued.
Mrs L sought an injunction after the birth mother contacted the children on their own social media accounts and asked them to meet her covertly and also stated their school address. The children reported this to Mrs L who reported to the local authority. They stated “they had never experienced anything like this before” in context of the determined actions of the birth mother. The children had begun self-harming after PTSD triggers were brought back up, as well as experiencing night terrors and bed wetting. The children vocalised they were scared of being abducted by their birth mother. Their school was forced to implement specialist safeguarding measures also.
We therefore applied for an ex parte non-molestation order for Mrs L and her children with unique terms to meet the needs of this case. A without notice application was granted on the papers and the court arranged service upon the birth mother. At this return hearing, this was unopposed and Mrs L and children remain protected. The contact has since ceased.