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Evangelical Mom Kidnaps Kid to Keep Her from Lesbian
A mom who converted to evangelical Christianity after ending a lesbian relationship has reportedly taken off with her daughter to keep the child from her ex-girlfriend.
Lisa Miller made news mid-last year when she faced jail time for refusing to submit to shared custody with Janet Jenkins even though Jenkins and Miller were legally tied in a civil union at the time of the child’s birth. Because of her refusal, a Vermont judge legally awarded Jenkins full custody in November, with a hand-off scheduled for December. But according to news reports from the New York Times, ABC News and more, Miller and the child are gone.
The little girl, Isabella Miller-Jenkins, was conceived with Miller’s eggs and born in 2002. Her parents split in 2004, and Miller moved from Vermont to Virginia where she pronounced herself a born-again Christian and got a Virginia court to give her sole custody, the same day the commonwealth passed its own version of the Defense of Marriage Act.
She’s become a hero of the anti-gay movement, with a “Protect Isabella Coalition” popping up, putting out ads like this one to appeal to people’s homophobia to “save” the child from her other mom:
According to the coalition, the only father Isabella “really has known is her Heavenly Father, thanks to the love and godly teaching of her real (biological) mother and role model, Lisa Miller.” They also maintain an active Facebook group Only One Mommy which has been heralding Miller’s bravery in her decision to skip town – and skipping over its illegality. In since-deleted post, Truth Wins Out reports they even dubbed it an example of “true motherhood.”
Awarding custody to Jenkins should have been a victory for gay parents, proving that biology is not the only part of parenting (and hence should be considered a victory for adoptive parents of all creeds). But with Lisa Miller and Isabella AWOL, it’s another case of false hope for Janet Jenkins.
Image: Truth Wins Out (Janet Jenkins with her daughter)
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11 Comments
[...] the case of Isabella Miller-Jenkins, whose biological mother has kidnapped her after the courts awarded full custody to her other [...]
Custody Cases — How Important Are Genes? | Strollerderby commented on Jan 13 10 at 11:28 ama's mom commented on Jan 03 10 at 4:44 pmthis story is heartbreaking and disgusting! homosexuality isn’t a choice, you don’t just change your mind one day. and how about that the bible teaches you to obey the laws of the land as well as God’s law, so this mom skipping town with her girl goes against the bibles teachings as well. and that facebook page is disturbing. but at least they have a pretty clear picture of the mom and the daughter so hopefully someone will see them and turn the mom in for kidnapping.
Lisa commented on Jan 03 10 at 9:08 pmI am baffled at how the Virginia court can grant custody to her when another state has already removed it.
Angi commented on Jan 03 10 at 9:27 pmI just hope the little girl is ok. I get such a bad feeling about this. The mom who was awarded custody must be frantic with worry.
mumus commented on Jan 04 10 at 8:54 amI wonder how this would have played out if Jenkins, not Miller, were the biological mother.
Mistress_Scorpio commented on Jan 04 10 at 11:28 amI hope this woman is caught soon and thrown in jail for a very long time.
learn french commented on Jan 04 10 at 1:00 pmWhere the biological mother.
Andrea commented on Jan 04 10 at 1:29 pmI looked at the facebook page, and it just sickens me; I had trouble going through more than a couple of posts. The people who appear to be the admins are just so cruel and callous and pigheaded it makes me sad. I hope that the little girl is found and returned to her mother. Something tells me though that the people who are hiding her probably have solid resources and enough structure to keep them both underground for a long, long time.
By the way, who sees a Lifetime movie in this?
Sherry commented on Jan 05 10 at 8:51 amMy understanding is that the 2nd mom never sought adoptive-parent status in Virginia–a state that didn’t have a civil-union law. Not only that, but the 1st mom left with baby as 17-month-old. She’s now 7 years old. There’s a lot of untold story here that isn’t a part of this blog. Just because the Christian right is using this as political fodder doesn’t mean this is a homosexual-rights issue. This may be a clearcut case of parental-custody rights that’s been hijacked by a society eager to debate a topic.
Mistress_Scorpio commented on Jan 05 10 at 5:34 pmThat’s the point. It *is* a clear cut custody case. The parent that absconded with the child is clearly in the wrong and proven herself unfit by her actions. Period.
common sense commented on Jun 19 10 at 5:35 amThis story proves why gay couples should not have children in the first place. It is disordered and goes against the natural law.
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