Family Forum / Parenting / Adoption / May 2006

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbccentral/content/local_news/epaper/2006/05/10/m1a
_ADOPT_0510.html

Adoptive parents sue over twins' poor health
By Jane Musgrave

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

WEST PALM BEACH - Having seen more than his share of hospitals and
doctors when he and his wife struggled unsuccessfully to have children,
Robert Albert said he was emphatic in one demand to an adoption agency.

"We wanted a child who was healthy, one that would develop normally,"
he said of his one inflexible request.

So when officials at Adoptions With Love called with the news that
Albert and his wife, Renee, could adopt twin boys who showed no signs
of ill health, the Boston-area couple jumped on a plane and came to
West Palm Beach to take home what they believed were the children of
their dreams.

Nearly two years later, a doctor they consulted when one of the boys
still wasn't walking said the twins were doomed from the start.

" 'It's all right here,' " Albert recalled a doctor saying as he
gestured at medical records piled on his desk.

The doctor diagnosed one child, Matthew, with cerebral palsy. His
brother, Alexander, was eventually diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome
and a host of other neurological disorders.

By the time the twins are age 18, the Alberts will have spent more than
$1 million trying to help their sons live normal lives, said their
attorney Kevin Richardson.

Albert testified Tuesday during a trial that began unfolding in Palm
Beach County Circuit Court last week. The anticipated three-week trial
turns on whether the Alberts were told of the enormous odds the boys
faced and their likely need for extensive and expensive medical care
throughout their lives.

While the Alberts initially sued St. Mary's Medical Center, Dr. David
Kanter and nurse practitioner Deborah McGriff, those claims were
settled out of court.

Adoptions With Love, a Massachusetts agency, and Chosen Children, a
Palm Springs-based agency, are now fighting to prove they did not hide
the truth from the Alberts.

"The evidence will show they were fully informed," said attorney
Michael Smith, who is representing Adoptions With Love.

However, Albert testified he and his wife were lied to at every turn.

Medical records that showed the boys would have serious problems were
kept from the couple until they hired an attorney to force their
release.

They were told the boys were born to a 20-year-old single Jewish woman,
from an upper middle class "Fortune 400" family. While the boys were
born roughly a month premature, they were told the pregnancy was
uneventful.

In reality, the mother was on Medicaid, weighed 260 pounds and had a
history of medical problems, including hepatitis and high blood
pressure. The pregnancy was considered high-risk.

The woman, now a real estate agent in North Palm Beach, testified last
week, marking the first time the Alberts had met the mother of their
sons.

The two boys, now 14, also testified, giving the seven women and one
man who are sitting on the jury a sobering and emotion-packed view of
the medical, emotional, educational and physical problems they face.

The lawsuit, filed in 1996, has languished in the courts for a decade
for a variety of reasons, said attorney Scott Richardson, who is
helping his brother represent the Alberts.

The founder of Adoptions With Love died, putting the case on hold for
several years. Then, one of the original defense attorneys in the case,
Diana Lewis, was elected to the bench. Since the case was assigned to
her court, it had to be reassigned, a process that caused further
delay, he said.

In the meantime, the boys have gotten older, but not any better, Albert
said.

At age 8, Matthew finally walked for the first time without assistance,
his father told the jury. But the stiffness in his legs, partially
corrected by surgery that was done in St. Louis, has returned.

Simple things, like putting on his shoes, getting dressed, even eating,
are a struggle, his father said.

Kevin Richardson reminded Albert that Matthew testified that he is
adept at putting on his ever-present leg braces.

Albert paused, choking back tears, before responding.

"I wish that were true."