Adoption of Oliver
554 N.E. 2d 40, 28 Mass. App. Ct. 620 (Appeals Ct. 1990)
The appellate court affirmed a decision dispensing with the
mother's consent to Oliver's adoption. This will permit the child's
foster parents to adopt Oliver without the mother's agreement.
In reaching this conclusion, the court relied primarily on the
special needs of a child, like Oliver, with FAS. The court also gave some
weight to the mother's continued use of alcohol.
The description of the facts on which the diagnosis was based
included the following:
"[Oliver has] some of the particular facial features of such
children, retarded growth, and some neurological dysfunction. He is
developmentally and mentally delayed. His psychological testing places
him in the borderline retarded range."
(554 N.E. 2d at 43.)
The court described Oliver's special needs in the following
passage:
"[I]t will be pivotal to Oliver's development that he live in an
enriched environment with constant stimulation, by which the doctor meant
that he must have sustained contact with persons willing to take an active
interest in his everyday life and willing to encourage him to take
responsibility for himself."
(554 N.E. 2d at 43).