In France, an 18-year-old Ukrainian refugee who had recently given birth to a child was at risk of losing custody due to allegedly being “too young to take custody of the child.” < /p>
A Ukrainian refugee, who gave birth to a daughter in France and risked losing custody of her due to local social services, was reunited with her child after a court decision. Now the family is together and feeling good.
This was reported by Ukrainian volunteer in France Veronica Kisil.
“Well… regarding our young mother and her newborn daughter. Friends, I thank everyone very much for your help in this difficult matter! (…) Yesterday we met social workers who , in fact, confirmed that Lyudmila is a good mother and they will continue to help her in further education to properly care for the child. If there are questions about the transfer, they can call me directly from the scene so that communication is more effective. help. to those who need it,” said Veronica Kisil.
The story of a woman in labor
18-year-old Lyudmila from the Zhitomir region gave birth to a child in a maternity hospital in the city of Evreux in Normandy. After observing the young mother, social workers made a recommendation for the child to temporarily live in a foster family due to the “unpreparedness of the young mother for motherhood.”
“The condition of mother and child is excellent, they were kept in the hospital long enough for a standard case of natural childbirth. On December 4, 2023, Lyudmila was discharged from the hospital, taking her daughter Amina to a foster family. Lyudmila was given an invitation to two meetings with child: on Wednesday and Friday in court, which will take place on December 11,” Veronica Kisil said then.
Legal assistance and victory in court
Thanks to the proactivity of the Ukrainian community in Normandy, the Ukrainian Embassy in France learned about the situation and provided the Ukrainian woman and his child with the necessary legal assistance. After negotiations with the management of social services and local authorities, the Ukrainian consul hired a French lawyer to protect his interests, who helped achieve the return of the child while maintaining counseling assistance to young parents.
As Ukrainian Ambassador to France Vadim Omelchenko said, as soon as Ukrainian activists learned about Lyudmila’s situation, the consuls immediately got involved in the case. They went to the place, established contacts with the social services of the Evreux department and the prefecture, and attracted a French lawyer.
“After several tense days of waiting, we have a positive result – today, by a court decision, the child was returned to her mother. We hope that in the future everything will be better for the girl and her parents. I would like to once again thank everyone who helped resolve the situation. Defense the rights and interests of Ukrainians has been and remains our absolute priority,” said Vadim Omelchenko, reports LB.ua.
Let us recall, according to Veronica Kisil, in the maternity hospital some of the medical staff decided that the young mother was treating the child “coldly”. And despite the fact that other employees did not confirm this, the child was taken from Lyudmila, who left Ukraine due to a full-scale invasion.
Meanwhile, European countries continue to accept refugees from Ukraine. Our citizens are provided with temporary asylum in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway, Ireland and Poland. They are entitled to free housing, medical care and financial support.
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