I have heard of many sad things, but this story is absolutely horrible. 20 year old Emily Colleen Fahland became pregnant by her boyfriend John Wyatt. She wanted to give the baby up for adoption, but he wanted to keep the child and raise the baby with her. Instead, the mother decided, without the father’s consent, to give the baby up for adoption. The father filed for custody 8 days after his daughter was born in Virginia - the place of her birth. That should have been the end of this, but it was just the beginning of a nightmare for John Wyatt.

The birth mother signed custody of the child over to a Utah adoption agency. The adoptive parents came to pick the child up from Virginia. Those parents, Thomas Zarembinski and Chandra Zarembinski, cared for the child in Virginia and took her to Utah. They filed for custody in Utah five days after John Wyatt filed for custody in Virginia. The Virginia court gave custody to John since it was obvious that he wanted his child. The Utah court gave custody to the Zarembinski family and the family has not returned the child to her father.

I want to know how Thomas and Chandra Zarembinski can consider themselves to be good people. This father loves his daughter and wants her. The mother should never have been able to put the child up for adoption without the birth father’s written consent, but she did. Now that the Zarembinskis know that he wants his child, wouldn’t the right thing to do be to return the child to her FATHER? It makes me sick that there are people who are so desperate for a child that they would put their own selfish desires above the desires of a parent who was duped! John Wyatt wants his daughter. Why wouldn’t the Zarembinskis, who likely can’t have a child of their own, not honor his wishes once they realized what had happened. I think these people are despicable. I don’t care that they have loved the child since she has been in their care. She should not be in their care.

The sad thing is that Utah law favors abusive birth mothers like Emily Colleen Fahland. I say that she is abusive because she abused the birth father by not being honest with him and not allowing him to take the child when she didn’t want her. It is sad. Utah looks at adoption as a fantastic thing - which it is - however, they are quick to ignore the rights of unwed fathers. Why is that? Once a woman makes the decision not to have an abortion, she is making a decision to that affects not only herself, but also the father of the child. If you have a man who WANTS to have his child and be there for his child, who is she to take that right away. John Wyatt’s father passed away and he was looking forward to being a great dad to his child. I sincerely hope that he will get the chance to do that. The Zarembinskis may think that they are doing the right thing, but any merciful and moral people would not keep a willing, loving father away from his daughter just because they want a child. This case goes to trial in May. Ruling in the Zarembinskis favor would just be very stupid. John Wyatt, I hope you get your daughter back. My thoughts are with you.