The horrifying part?
For a while, he almost did.
Simone pleaded guilty the following year.
Several clinic executives also faced charges and civil action for concealing the original investigation.
Greenhaven closed permanently.
Families from across the country demanded records.
More irregularities emerged, though thankfully none like ours.
The legal questions surrounding Caleb and Leah were unprecedented.
But therapists, judges and child advocates agreed on one essential principle:
No child would be torn from the parent who had raised them merely to satisfy biology.
Caleb remained with me.
Leah remained emotionally connected to Simone during the criminal proceedings, though custody temporarily shifted to Simone’s sister, Rebecca.
Darius sought custody of Leah.
I did something nobody expected.
I opposed him.
Not because I wanted Leah taken from him.
But because by then I understood something Darius still did not.
Biology does not make you entitled to a child.
Behavior matters.
Stability matters.
