'Not an easy case'

Birth parents challenge ruling that gives custody of Anna Mae to another couple

By Shirley Downing, Commercial Appeals
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February 16, 2005

JACKSON, Tenn. -- Child support and visitation were key questions from state judges hearing an appeal Wednesday in the Anna Mae He custody case.

An appellate court ruling in the bitter fight between birth parents of the 6-year-old Chinese girl and custodial parents who seek to adopt her is not expected for months.

Last spring, Circuit Court Judge Robert 'Butch' Childers in Memphis terminated the birth parents' rights, citing abandonment and the opinion that Anna Mae is better off with the custodial family she has lived with since shortly after birth.

It is that ruling which is on appeal.

A packed courtroom was told Wednesday such cases are very important, and are given careful consideration.

At the end of an almost two-hour hearing, presiding Judge Alan Highers said lawyers had presented their positions well. "It certainly is not an easy case," he said.

Anna Mae is the birth child of Chinese nationals Shaoqiang 'Jack' He and Qin Luo 'Casey' He but she has lived with Jerry and Louise Baker, who originally were her foster parents, since shortly after her birth in January 1999. Both families live in Cordova.

The Hes voluntarily gave legal custody of Anna Mae to the Bakers at a time of financial and legal stress. The Hes said they agreed to the temporary arrangement so the Bakers could put the sickly infant on their health insurance.

The Bakers allowed the Hes to visit some 68 to 80 times over her first two years. The Hes brought gifts but no child support because no one told them they should do that, and the Bakers had rejected $300 they once offered, said Jack He's attorney David Siegel.

The Bakers contend there was an unwritten agreement they could keep the girl until she is grown.

The Bakers were concerned the Hes might give her to a lawyer in exchange for legal assistance in another matter, or send her to a life of uncertainty in China, according to testimony during last year's trial.

A dispute broke out on Anna Mae's second birthday. Police called by the Bakers told the Hes not to return. Jack He testified last year that they stayed away because they feared arrest.

The Bakers filed to adopt a little more than four months later, citing abandonment.

In his ruling, Childers said the Bakers had provided Anna Mae with a warm and loving home. He said the Hes were manipulative and untruthful, and he discarded virtually everything they said at trial.

Childers said the Hes were trying to avoid deportation, though Siegel argued Wednesday that nothing in the trial record would support such a conclusion.

Judge Holly Kirby questioned lawyers about visitation, child support and abandonment issues.

She also asked why Chancellor D. J. Alissandratos issued a "no contact" order prohibiting the Hes from visiting their daughter after the Bakers filed to adopt.

Baker attorney Larry Parrish said that was because the Hes refused to obey a court order to turn in the girl's passport.

The courtroom was packed as lawyers offered oral arguments to buttress written briefs they had submitted earlier.

Afterward, Jerry Baker said he feels Childers's ruling will "stand up under review."

Even if the Hes' parental rights are not terminated, Baker said he believes the courts will leave Anna Mae with his family to raise.

Jack He told reporters he has faith the appeals court "will make the right decision, based on the facts."

-- Shirley Downing: 529-2387