Rebecca, Family Court Survivor

Becca My name is Rebecca and I was born and raised in Sacramento, California. When I was a young child, my biological father left and abandoned me for seven years. Years later my mom and my step-father got married and it felt that our family was finally complete. When I was 12 years old, we decided on my being adopted by my step-father. We went to the Sacramento Family Court and tried to file for a step-parent adoption. Unfortunately, my biological father was informed of our attempts and took the opportunity to harass us. I had 12 court-appointed therapists throughout three years, many of whom were abusive, due to a custody battle that could have been avoided. Many of the therapists threatened that I would never see my family again if I didn’t cooperate in the reunification or supervised visitation. One therapist grabbed my wrist, attempted to pull me into a small room with my biological father, and after I refused, she threatened to charge me at 13 years of age with contempt if I didn’t do exactly what she told me to do.

After three years of abuse from my biological father, the family courts of California, and the 12 court-appointed therapists, my Mom finally won full custody of me. After so many years of traumatic experiences, I decided to focus strictly on my extracurricular activities, such as testifying at a California Commission on the Status of Women hearing; graduating as a valedictory scholar and winning an academic scholarship; volunteering over 700 hours in a convalescent hospital, a museum, and many other places; and being part of a competitive NASA program.

After six years of waiting to be adopted, my stepfather and I filed for an adult-adoption on my 18^th birthday, so I am now officially free from court harassment. I am currently attending college and working toward a degree in aerospace engineering, and I continue to share my experiences to raise awareness of the injustice and abuse of power being exercised by the family courts of California and their delegates.