Burnley dad fights to get children back after adoption mix-up

A FURIOUS Burnley father claims two of his children have been left in adoption “limbo” for six years.

Christopher Everitt (36) had his eldest son and daughter taken away by the courts in 2006 and put up for adoption.

But now the devastated dad has found that his children, now aged nine and 10, are only just being officially adopted by a new family.

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Mr Everitt, of Marine Avenue, now says he wants to fight the decision through the courts to bring his children home.

He said: “To have your children taken away is absolutely horrendous.

“I absolutely love them to bits. To lose them was heartbreaking.

“But to find out they have been stuck in limbo all this time – you cannot imagine it.

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“The last time I saw them was in 2006. As far as I knew, and my solicitor knew, they were adopted. Why, after so long, has nothing been done? Why, after my solicitor writes to them, are they finally filing for adoption?”

Mr Everitt, who has two other children, found there was a problem after he had not received letters from his two children.

He claims officials told him letters from his children would not have been sent because a mailbox had not been set up.

“They said that one couldn’t be set up because they had never been adopted.

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“If the children have not been adopted then what has been going on? I would have been able to see my children up until the adoption order was made.

“They suggested I seek legal advice.”

Mr Everitt now faces an agonising wait for a court hearing to find out what will happen. He said: “I want to fight it. It has been six years – why have I not heard anything?

“I want to try to get my children back.

“I don’t agree with what social services have done and the way they have done it.”

Anne-Marie Ranson, Lancashire County Council’s adoption manager, said: “We are unable to comment on individual cases for reasons of confidentiality. However, final decisions on cases such as this are made by the courts in the best interests of the child, and birth parents are entitled to representation in such proceedings.

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“There may be occasions when children are placed with an adoptive family but where, for a number of reasons, it may be some time later when the legal application to adopt is made. In cases such as this, the children remain in a stable placement with their adoptive family during that period.”