Monday and all of its Madness!

I have a dear girlfriend that I have known since my freshman year in high school. First day of ninth grade, I noticed she was on her own. It was pretty hard not to notice it when there's only about 110+ teenagers in your class. I walked up to her and said,"Hi. My name's Missy. What's yours?" We've been friends ever since. We've been through highschool, college, singleness, marriage, divorce, severe illness, having kids... we've waked through life together. Even when we haven't been with each other on a daily basis, we've still walked together. Have friends like that? They're a treasure.

My friend recently adopted a child. She and her husband found the birth mother and they were present for the delivery and the relationship between everyone has been wonderful. So wonderful, in fact, I've been wondering when it was going to hit. Not that I'm a cynic, but it seemed to be going so smoothly that it worried me. They bring the baby home. Life is wonderful for about two weeks. Everyone is loving the baby, my friend and her husband are over the moon in love with the baby and wouldn't you know it, the birth father, who now happens to be in prison, is deciding whether or not he wants to sue for the right to have his mother raise the child.

You're kidding me, right? Seriously? This guy is in prison and gets the right to a free trial while my friends have to fork over another 10K+ to defend the adoption? Something is not right here. I would understand if he was in for a petty crime with circumstantial evidence. Let's suffice to say this guy has a track record which would make any parent think twice about him having influence over a child's life. And he gets to wreak havoc for free. Actually, not for free... OUR TAX DOLLARS ARE PAYING FOR THIS.

Someone help me understand this... I'm trying to stay fair and balanced, but I'm just not seeing it. I think if he REALLY wants custody, he should have to fork over the money like everyone else. It's not like he is having an attorney to defend his freedom. That I would get. He's been convicted. Feels like he should have to give up this right too. But then again, that's probably my bias toward my friend talking.

Yours, hoping he drops his suit,

Melissa