An 8-year-old girl of Ranchito village, Corozal District, is in the center of a bitter custody battle between her biological mother Kelanie Gentle, 23, of Belize City, and her foster mother Lupita Bejerano, 42, of Ranchito.
According to Corozal police, Bejerano reported her foster daughter Chelsey Gentle missing on Monday, January 4, after Gentle had taken her to Belize City on December 26 and failed to return her on the 29th as she said she would.
Bejerano told police that she had adopted Chelsey seven years ago from a child care center in Belize City and took her to Ranchito to live with her.
On Christmas Day, Gentle visited their residence in Ranchito to see Chelsey, and Bejerano allowed interaction between them, finding the mother “very nice… and genuine.” She even permitted her to stay overnight at her house.
Bejerano allowed Chelsey to go with Gentle the next day “with the expectation that she …[would] return the child on date stated,” police say, but when the 29th passed and Chelsey did not return, she attempted to contact Gentle at the address and phone number she gave, which turned out to be incorrect.
Gentle handed over Chelsey at the Queen Street Police Station on Tuesday evening, but not without a fight. Gentle, who had heard the missing person report over the radio news and turned Chelsey over at Belize City’s Family Violence Unit office, located at the Queen Street police station, insists that while she bore Chelsey at a young age (fourteen), out of wedlock, and has served a jail term, she has since turned her life around and believes she is now adequately able to take care of her child.
She lives in a house on Kelly Street and has hopes of finding a job with one of the local hotels, having just given up her job at Ready Call Center because of the hours and transportation problems.
While Bejerano, according to Corozal police, will not seek court action, Gentle intends to get her child back and has since filed a summons with the Family Court against the Department of Human Services, alleging that they did not consult her family before taking the child away.
Gentle also alleges that Bejerano has turned her child into a “slave”—having the child at her “beck and call”—and has left the youngster alone at home.
Speaking with Amandala on Wednesday, Gentle made many allegations of Chelsey being mistreated by Bejerano and her family (Bejerano is married and has three grown children, the youngest is an 18-year-old daughter).
From Bejerano’s perspective, it would be wrong to uproot Chelsey from what she knows, even if Gentle has a right to know her as her biological mother.
“The mother is not the one who bore her, but the one who minds and cares for her. I raised her, so I consider myself her real mother,” she explained to Amandala by telephone Wednesday morning from her home in Ranchito.
According to Bejerano, Chelsey was staying at a child care center in Belize City after Gentle’s parents dropped her off at a police station following the birth. Bejerano’s mother works as a childcare-giver in Belize City, and hence Chelsey came into her possession.
At the tender age of 14 months, Bejerano took Chelsey into her care and considers herself the child’s real mother. According to Bejerano, Chelsey told her that her biological mother beat her during her stay in Belize City and made her stand in a corner alone, and at one point left her alone for nearly 24 hours (Gentle says Chelsey was being rude and she took it upon herself to punish her).
Bejerano claims Chelsey has told her that she wants her, Bejerano, to formally adopt her in her own name, but because she is underage, the standard-three student of Ranchito Government School has no say in that decision, unfortunately.
And if Gentle has her way, Chelsey will not be in Bejerano’s custody for a much longer period of time. She alleged that with Bejerano’s various health problems (high blood pressure and diabetes, among others), the child would be safer with her.
She also claims that Chelsey is not performing well in school, has no proper clothing, and in general has not been raised according to her expectations.
In addition, Gentle claims Bejerano and her family have tried to turn her daughter against her – she alleges that someone got rid of the picture album containing photos of her Belize City family members she gave the little girl as a way of reminding her from whom she came. Chelsey is frequently told that the Department of Human Services frowns on contact between her and Gentle.
An emotional Gentle told Amandala on Wednesday evening that she has actually been visiting Ranchito and her daughter for a full year prior to December 26, 2009, after Bejerano’s own mother met her in the City and agreed to let her see the child, with Bejerano’s consent.
While the biological mother admits that Chelsey was the product of a romance with a married man (whom the child has also met and who is providing for her as well), she wants a better life for her daughter than the one she has had so far.
According to Gentle, she has been photographing her child’s development in the last year, because as she puts it, “I don’t know if I may ever see her again, never mind when.” She refuses to blame the Bejeranos, instead targeting the Department for what she believes is a lack of compassion and consultation.
Amandala contacted the Vital Statistics Unit in Belize City to determine whether the Bejeranos have gone through the adoption process for Chelsey Gentle. It turns out that in VSU’s records (going back to 1998), no such adoption was recorded; the average case takes about three months to a year and requires an attorney (the case is treated as a civil matter).
According to Assistant Registrar General Lovinia Daniels, the VSU records all adoptions done in Belize and issues Adoption Certificates. An application for any adoption must be made through the Supreme Court, which if successful, is sent to the VSU and cross-checked with the original birth register and reconciled, with the original birth crossed out and the adoption certificate replacing it.
Information to Amandala is that the Department of Human Services considers Chelsey a ward of the state, and therefore neither woman’s child. The Department has reportedly refused further comment, as Chelsey is underage; their lines in Belize City were busy when Amandala called today. But Gentle says she has not, and will never sign away her child to anyone.