sunnykerr

NEW YORK - David Goldman is still "desperately fighting" to get his son back after his wife took him to Brazil more than four years ago.

Goldman's wife, Bruna, said that he would only be able to see his wife if he agreed to give her sole custody of the child.

"I haven't seen him in four years, and I've been desperately fighting and fighting to be with him," Goldman told TODAY.

Goldman had been traveling to Brazil for every court hearing that ruled against him over the years. He went again, only to discover that his late wife's Brazilian husband had filed a petition with local family courts to remove Goldman's name from Sean's birth records and replace it with his own.

He dropped Bruna and Sean at the airport on June 16, 2004, for a two-week vacation to Bruna's native Brazil.

She later remarried and died while giving birth to her second child last month.

"As tragic as it is, I needed to be with my son," Goldman said, referring to his wife's death. He thought, "Here's my chance to go down and bring him home and be with my son."

Goldman later discovered that his late wife's Brazilian husband had filed a petition with local family courts to remove Goldman's name from Sean's birth records and replace it with his own.

"[That] would exclude me from ever even being my son's father," Goldman told Vieira. "So far, the Brazilian judicial system is letting him do this."

The U.S. Embassy in Brazil has written letters asking Brazilian authorities to recognize Goldman's paternal rights and the international and national laws that seem to favor his case.

"How can it be possible, a non-blood person could take my child?" Goldman asked rhetorically, fighting his emotions. "I don't know. I don't know."

'Bring Sean Home', Father Pleads - International Business Times -

I saw this story last night on Dateline and I find it very troubling, to say the least. The kicker is that the step-father and his father are lawyers who specialized in the Hague Convention and cases of international kidnapping (Lins e Silva Advogados - Produzido por MADE Consultoria).

Now, this isn't about blaming Brasil for anything, really. But there really does seem to be some problems with enforcing the Hague Convention. Everyone, I'm sure, will remember the case of Betty Mahmoody (the book and movie, "Not Without My Daughter") who was trapped in Iran by the Hague Convention's inability to protect her daughter from paternal kidnapping. And this isn't about blaming Iran either.

Custody wars

What I'm wondering is whether the Hague Abduction Convention needs to have a more aggressive implementation system or something. Because it seems to be that countries can ratify their agreement with this Convention and, then, do nothing to comply with it. And there's nothing we seem to be able to do about it.

So, what do you all think?