Christopher Emmanuel first met his girlfriend in the fall of 2012 when they were both driving forklifts at a warehouse in Trenton south Carolina. She was one of a handful of women on the job. She was white and he was black. She ignored him at first and Emmanuel saw it as a challenge. It took multiple attempts to get her phone number Manuel’s girlfriend didn’t respond to multiple interview requests, so some details of their relationship remain difficult to confirm, but her affidavits and her text message exchanges with Emmanuel aligned with the key elements of his story:
Their Relationship began in february 2013, after months of friendship, when her parents were away for the summer his girlfriend invited emmanuel to stay at her house for a while, and in may she took a home pregnancy test which came out positive emmanuel says they were happy as they Made a doctor’s appointment and began to plan a life together, but his girlfriend’s parents were still out of town and she had yet to tell them about the pregnancy or the young man sleeping at their house.
Still he says they settled into a routine sharing the cost of doctors, appointments and attending them together. The baby was due in mid-february of 2014 and when a sonogram revealed that it was going to be a girl, they decided to name her skylar over the summer. Emanuel says he helped his girlfriend apply for medicaid and for time off under the family leave and medical act.
He still had not met any of her family also, if you have not done so already, please subscribe to our channel and click that notification bell to get inspired by these real life stories every day now back to the story, one evening in august emmanuel says his Girlfriend called him sobbing, her mother had returned from vacation and a neighbor had told her about the pregnancy she had confronted her daughter and, according to emmanuel, told her. You are pregnant by an expletive.
You should be ashamed of yourself. Emmanuel’S girlfriend repeatedly promised him that she would never put their child up for adoption, but he couldn’t erase the possibility from his mind. So he posed the question to her. If you ever had to give your baby up for adoption, you’re going to give it to me right, she said she would but insisted that she had no plans to give the baby away. He says they made plans for her to move in with him permanently at the end of the year.
At that time i was like you know, i’mma be here, you know we’re gon na do everything we got to do. You know talk about moving in. It was around this time that Emmanuel’s half-sister, chelsea mcnabb and her best friend jill Thomason started having misgivings when they met her. At the first time at booyah, the bar and grill Emmanuel’s mother, owned north of town Thomason found Emmanuel’s girlfriend distant and felt that something was off. I think she’s going to give the baby away.
She told mcnabb after the encounter Thomason started researching paternity rights on her own. That’s when she learned about the south carolina responsible father registry, which, according to the state’s department of social services, gives a man who has fathered a child with a woman.
He is not married to the right to be notified when an adoption or a termination of parental rights action occurs without the registry. His girlfriend could put the baby up for adoption without telling a man well about it. Registering with the state wouldn’t guarantee him custody of skylar, but at least he’d be notified and have a say in court, but emmanuel insisted that he didn’t need to register, even though his girlfriend feared being cut off by her parents.
He couldn’t imagine that they would actually make their daughter choose between staying in the family and giving her childhood for adoption. The act of registering felt disloyal to him. He didn’t anticipate a battle and he didn’t want to feel as though he was sharpening his sword in september. Emmanuel’S girlfriend told him that her mother wanted to meet him. This seemed like progress to him.
It had been a month since her mother had learned about the pregnancy and emmanuel thought he would finally have a chance to win his girlfriend’s parents over and articulate his intentions toward his girlfriend and the baby. But she kept pushing the introduction back telling him her. Parents were out of town or busy emmanuel said three weeks passed before they set an actual date. When emmanuel and his mother, natasha emmanuel came in the door, his girlfriend’s father wasn’t there but emmanuel embraced the mother and she didn’t recoil. They all sat down and he explained his plan for supporting his girlfriend and skylar.
Then, as natasha recalled the mother interrupted emmanuel, you may be a nice fella, but my daughter knows it’s forbidden to date a racist expletive emmanuel says he and natasha exchange stunned glances. How do you think society is going to look at you, his girlfriend’s mother, continued when the phone rang at one point, natasha says his girlfriend’s mother held her finger up and shushed everyone.
While she talked to her husband on the phone, it was clear that he knew about the meeting taking place in his home. At one point his wife said: yes, i’m handling that i’m taking care of that now she hung up and immediately told the couple that their only option was adoption. His girlfriend then told her mother she’d give skylar to him if it went that far emanuel said emmanuel left the meeting feeling reassured that his girlfriend had stood up for him.
They were in love, he thought and would carry on with their plans of moving in together and waiting for their daughter and as emmanuel drove away with his mother. He got what appeared to be a reassuring text from his girlfriend. He read the message out loud and exchanged yet another bewildered look with a natasha. My mom likes you it’s sad after that encounter emmanuel and his girlfriend continued to see each other daily emmanuel says she spent half nights at his house returning home only when she knew her parents were asleep by this time. His girlfriend was six months pregnant.
Then, in the beginning of november emanuel says she told him her father had stopped speaking to her. Her visits began to drop off, but emanuel continued to clear space for her to move in and text message records show that they communicated every day after his girlfriend’s doctor diagnosed her with gestational diabetes, emmanuel texted her three times a day to check her blood sugar levels. The visits dropped off even more in december, his girlfriend told him. It was because of her constant diabetic fatigue. There were no more sleepovers or social calls, but he says he accompanied her to a doctor’s appointment on december 26th.
That was the last time he saw her pregnant in january emmanuel said his girlfriend told him he didn’t have to come with her to doctor’s appointments anymore. Her mother would go with her. Instead, they still texted daily and she assured emmanuel that he could be in the delivery room with her. At the same time, emmanuel’s half-sister and her friend continued to badger him about joining the south carolina responsible father registry. Their persistence aggravated him, but he soon changed his mind.
On february 1st emanuel’s, family friends and neighbors arrived at booyah for a diaper bash. The southern male version of a baby shower his girlfriend’s friends and family hadn’t wanted to host a baby shower or party for her. But she told emmanuel she’d attend the bash. His mother was throwing for them. The guests brought armloads of gifts, clothes bottles, wipes toys and other typical cute bouncy things for babies.
There was food, music and joy. His girlfriend never showed up around the same time, emmanuel had learned that his girlfriend had lied about the date of her most recent doctor’s appointment. He began to wonder if she was trying to keep him from finding out about a doctor’s appointment. How could he be sure that she would let him attend the birth he finally signed up for the responsible father registry on february 4th the tuesday after the diaper bash, but he kept making efforts to see his girlfriend. He tried to drop off all the gifts from the party, along with a breast pump he’d bought at walmart, but each time he texted her called his girlfriend told him she was busy and would pick them up herself later.
The next monday february 10th, a devastating ice storm hit south carolina and 364 000 homes lost power. The storm caused an estimated 54 million dollars in infrastructure damage and 360 million dollars in damage from fallen trees. The hardest hit areas were around charleston and icon. In spite of the brutal weather, emanuel decided to go out and finally deliver the gifts with a due date. Only five days away.
He says he had a growing feeling that there could be something going on, but his girlfriend wasn’t home, so he parked at the end of the road and waited for her three hours passed and she still didn’t return later that day his girlfriend texted him. You know i love you right. He thought it was random that she was putting so much emphasis on love at that particular moment, emmanuel called her several times, but she picked up just once and only briefly, she told him she’d been in and out of the bathroom because she was constipated. He returned home with all the gifts and started making phone calls he suspected his girlfriend might be in labor, so he called the doctor in hospital multiple times. If you go into delivery or in labor.
Please do not forbid me from seeing my child. He texted her when he finally got through at eicon hospital. They told him she wasn’t there. She texted him that she would be induced on the 24th if she hadn’t gone into labor by fan at 9am on february 19th, she texted a photo of herself, smiling and hugely pregnant, with one knee resting on a set tee at the foot of her parents. Four-Poster bed, she told him the picture had been taken the other day.
He responded that it brought tears to his eyes to see her. So far, along the next day, on saturday february 22nd, a private investigator showed up at emanuel’s home and served him with notice papers. An adoption proceeding was filed in greenville county on february 19 2014 and you are a putative father of a caucasian african-american female child born at aiken hospital on february 11, 2014. The papers stated his daughter had been born the day after the ice storm. The notice did not give any specifics about the adoption he didn’t know who had his daughter or where they were just the day before his girlfriend had texted.
The baby is still in my belly manual said he flipped. He sent her a text message. You misled me, you played me, you lied to me numerous times his girlfriend responded. I can’t take back what i’ve done. I’M sorry!
On monday february 24th, the next business day emmanuel drove two hours to file his objection to the adoption. Normally, the objection would have been filed in icon county where skyler was born, but the couple who wanted to adopt skyler had chosen an attorney raymond godwin, who had his office in greenville manuel registered his handwritten pro se objection at the greenville county court at 109 pm. His statement was brief and direct. I’M contesting the adoption proceedings. My girlfriend said she had not dilated and would not be induced.
We talked on a daily basis. She advised me the baby was in her stomach. A private investigator served a summons paper. I was unaware of the proceedings afterwards, he drove to godwin’s office to hand deliver a certified copy of his objection. He took a picture of the agency signed to prove that he had been there.
Godwin declined to comment on any of the specifics of emmanuel’s case citing attorney-client privilege, but the records he filed with the court include a printout of emmanuel’s registry dated february 13th, indicating that he was aware by that point that an interested father could interfere with the adoption On february 19th, the adoptive couple filed legal documents without naming emmanuel, as a party on february 20th, godwin signed emmanuel’s notice of adoption proceedings informing him that he had 30 days to register his objection at the greenville county court. That same day, the adoptive couple’s request for an out-of-state adoption was approved by south carolina officials, meaning they could take skyler home. The adoptive couple declined to be interviewed for this story based on legal records. They are in their 30s. He is a tall sandy-haired businessman.
She is a petite dark-haired homemaker. They are solidly religious and middle-class with a household income slightly above the median, but they had one thing in common with emmanuel and his girlfriend, they were interracial later the couple wrote to emmanuel telling him their story. Both came from large families and belonged to a tight-knit church community, where virtually everyone else had children, but their own attempts had failed. Conceiving, naturally had not worked, neither had fertility drugs. Numerous ivf treatments had proven, costly and unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, the wife was approaching the reproductive doomsday age of 40. So they turned to adoption through a private church-based adoption agency, they’d created an online profile telling their story complete with joyful pictures tales about their marriage and information about where they lived in a new townhouse birth mothers were able to find them by searching for education of Adoptive couple or racial background of adoptive couple other search terms were mother’s employment after placement and willing to adopt a child with an unknown father. Four different birth mothers had chosen. This particular couple then changed their minds and kept their babies. The couple later wrote to emmanuel that they’d understood and respected each mother’s ultimate choice.
Their faith called for compassion and understanding, but each time the disappointment was excruciating they had almost given up when emmanuel’s girlfriend wrote them an email. She told them that she liked that they were interracial. She likes that they live by the beach she liked that they were a traditional married couple with a wife at home. She also liked that they lived far away from south carolina. That email launched a series of busy exchanges between the adoptive couple and their agency beginning in late august on september 5th, the communication records show there were 20 calls emails and letters between 7 32 am and 1 32 pm.
One week later, on september 11th, the couple had a joint adoptive interview that meeting had already taken place by the time. Emanuel first met his girlfriend’s mother. According to an affitivit emanuel’s girlfriend told the couple that she was unable to parent the child herself, but that she wanted to maintain post-adoption contact an open arrangement that would permit communication. If everyone agreed, she didn’t name a birth father. She told the adoptive couple that he wasn’t around and hadn’t supported her financially or emotionally during the pregnancy.
The couple proceeded cautiously, even though the birth mother appeared enthusiastic and the birth father seemed uninvolved. The birth mother told them her due date was february 15th, and the adoptive couple made plans to be there. The court records show that emanuel’s former girlfriend communicated with the adoptive couple every week they traveled to south carolina to meet her and her parents right before her. Due date, everyone in her family, including her father, was pleased with a placement the doctor decided to induce her that same day. The next morning the baby was born and the couple took custody it was only after they were back home with a baby that emanuel received his notice of the adoption on february 22nd.
According to the putative father registry statute, the attorney representing adoptive parents must serve the putative father within 10 days of receipt of the registrant’s name. Emmanuel was served on the ninth day. According to court records, godwin received notice of Emmanuel’s registration on february 13th by 4 50 pm that same day, the adoptive couple had changed their adoption papers to say that Emmanuel had registered, but they did not name him as a party because they had no
proof that He was the actual biological father on march 20th, almost four weeks after the investigator served Emmanuel with notice papers, godwin informed the icon, based judge in a letter that, upon his return from vacation, he would draw papers to verify whether emmanuel was indeed the birth father. On the evening of april 3rd emmanuel sat on his back porch waiting for a message from his attorneys. Shortly after filing his complaint at the courthouse, he’d visited jennifer moog’s solo law, family law practice in icon.
She now says it was one of those cases you have to take for help with the greenville court. Muka teamed up with kamaka nichols, graham the managing attorney at south carolina legal services in greenville. Now all three of them were waiting for news. Emmanuel still remembers the moment just before the text message came in, he was sitting outside breathing in the still calm south carolina spring. He remembers looking up and seeing a lone owl perched on a great oak bow above him.
Owls were rare in those parts, so he took it as a sign. That’S when his phone bust paternity test is back mook texted. You are skyler’s father things moved quickly after that on april 7th emanuel and his attorney showed up for an emergency hearing at the eicon county courthouse. The adoptive couple participated via speaker phone. His ex-girlfriend was present in the building, but she chose to stay outside of the courtroom.
Instead of speaking in person, she presented her case through an affidavit signed by raymond godwin. To a large extent, the judge had to weigh his ex-girlfriend’s word against emmanuel’s. She swore that he had never contributed to her medical bills, emmanuel swore that he had given her money toward two doctors visits and then helped her get into medicaid. She insisted that he was financially able to provide for the baby. He provided a sworn financial declaration, along with testimonies from relatives who promised to serve as a support network for the little girl, but emmanuel had one piece of solid evidence.
His text message records through these exchanges. He was able to prove that he’d been deeply invested in the pregnancy and enthusiastic about raising his child. He could show that he checked in on his then-girlfriend multiple times a day to make sure she was checking her blood sugar levels and he could demonstrate the extent of her deception. Ten days later, on april 17th, the judge handed down her ruling emmanuel would gain custody of the baby. On april 27th, emmanuel’s ex-girlfriend sent a letter to the judge expressing her disappointment about the decision and reiterating the claims she’d made in her april 7 of fit of it.
In conclusion, she wrote i would never have entered into adoption. If i thought chris would ever have any rights, i would never want the adoptive parents to experience such pain. I would never want to rip a child from the only mother and father she has ever known. I would never want my baby to experience such a trauma. Chris’S home is the least stable place for her.
It will take a lifetime to deal with the pain and sorrow of the devastating outcome. Shortly after the judge’s decision came down, emmanuel received his first email from the adoptive couple paraphrased here to preserve privacy. The adoptive parents told him that birth fathers had not been involved in their previous adoption attempts. It had always been the mother, not the father, who had wanted the baby back. They went on to describe their new daughter’s daily routine and how they’d comfort her through bouts of colic and acid reflux manuel learned that she was a happy and smart baby who recognized their faces.
They let him know that they truly loved her and that she was in a comfortable home with her mother and father. They wanted him to know that she’d made them the happiest they have ever been in their lives. They told him. It was anguishing to realize that yet another adoption had fallen through even harder this time, because the baby had become such a joyous part of their lives. They thought of the empty nursery, the unused strollers in the abandoned swing that would still be in their home once she left, but they concluded that their abject sorrow could not keep them from denying a father his right expressing sincere remorse for the conflict.
They told him. They would bring the baby back to icon on may 3rd, just as the court had ordered emmanuel says his first months with skylar were as challenging as anyone would expect sleep, deprivation, teething and other new parent adjustments. It was mostly typical parent stuff and he thought of himself as both mom and dad. His income was modest. He was working as a customer service representative through a temp agency, but he was earning enough to support his daughter, a happy child with cherubic, cheeks and bows in her curly black hair.
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