“Give Noah to Karen. You can keep the girl.”
For several seconds, I could not speak.
Not because I did not understand.
Because I understood too well.
The document was not a legitimate adoption consent. It was a crudely prepared surrender of parental rights, naming Karen Whitmore as the proposed guardian of “Baby Boy Carter.” Several provisions were legally defective. One clause attempted to waive future revocation. Another required me to acknowledge that I was “financially and emotionally incapable of providing appropriate care.”
The signature page had already been notarized.
My name had been typed beneath a blank line.
Ethan’s signature appeared above it.
I stared at the ink.
It looked like his handwriting.
The long downward stroke of the E.
The compressed loop in the H.
My husband had signed away our son.
