Sean Goldman returns to US

Parent Cafe
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<p>I don’t think there’s a thread on this yet. I heard about the situation only recently. A friend who was over for Christmas dinner had a very different take on it, and I wondered what my online friends think.</p>

<p>Sean Goldman was taken to Brazil 5 years ago, at age 4, by his mother, who was Brazilian but married to a US man, David Goldman. She told her husband that they were going to visit her family there for two weeks, but she did not return, and kept the boy there with her. She got a divorce in Brazil, and married someone else. Last year she died in childbirth.</p>

<p>David Goldman has been trying to get his son back all this time, through legal means, and he has traveled to Brazil many times. He was able to see his son only a few times. His case has gone through the Brazilian court system, and I think that all the decisions went his way, but the stepfather, who is from a prominent family, was able to appeal and get stays, etc. Just a few days ago, after some diplomatic pressure, the final court ruled in David’s favor, and he flew home with his son the other day. The Brazilian family chose to make a public spectacle of turning over the child, rather than do it privately. They “paraded him through the streets” (their words) and through a crowd of reporters, and this was clearly distressing for the boy.</p>

<p>I have thought about how terrible the situation is for Sean, who effectively lost his father at age 4, lost his mother last year, and now is losing his Brazilian family. David Goldman says that he will work with the family to keep up the relationship for Sean, but I imagine that he will not be able to trust them enough for anything but supervised visits. </p>

<p>My friend yesterday said that it was wrong for David Goldman to take his child away from his Brazilian home and family, that it was better for the child to remain where he was, assuming that he was being well-treated. I think that he had every right to fight for his son, and should not suffer a permanent loss because the illegal actions of others. I also question how well the family was treating him, given that they kept him from his father all these years, and made a spectacle of turning him over.</p>

<p>Your thoughts?</p>

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<p>There is no good solution at this point. Sean never should have been abducted by his mother in the first place, and the courts should have decided this long ago; IMO, the outcome was inevitable, and the lengthy delay only made it worse.</p>

<p>But I think Sean should be with his biological father, who has fought for him all these years.</p>

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<p>I couldn’t agree more - there is no good solution. The mother set this up, and the Brazilian family behaved abominably.</p>

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<p>Articles I read said that he Brazilian government should have responded years ago, and not allowed this to drag on for 5 years. This was not a custody battle, it was a case of abduction, complicated bythe death of the biological mother. Justice came… but late and with a price. I hope Sean adjusts as well as can be expected.</p>

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<p>totally agree with all that was said above…and how tacky that the Brazilian government waited until the Obama administration threatened to withold a 2.75 billion trade deal until the Brazilian Supreme Court ruled in favor of David Goldman…</p>

<p>I wish both David and Sean Goldman happiness and peace; and if David is secure enough in his relationship with his son to allow Sean’s maternal grandmother to have supervised visits, he will be the winner all around…</p>

<p>on a side note; NBC has had this story daily over the past few months…and paid to bring David and Sean back to Orlando with Jeff Rossen…wonder who will get the first interview?</p>

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<p>I read the news story but somehow the name didn’t register, so when I read the topic title I was wondering who this guy was and was his brother murdered by OJ.</p>

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<p>The Goldmans flew back, according to the news reports, on a private plan chartered/owned by NBC. NBC will, I imagine, get the first interviews. </p>

<p>As for right…remember when our government went in (during the Janet Reno time) and forcibly removed a little boy from his family in Florida and sent him back to his father in Cuba? Right is right. Both fathers had the right to their children and I commend our government for being consistent. (Although perhaps a middle of the night raid with guns might not have been necessary in the Florida case.)</p>

<p>Another point: Shame on the Brazilian family for how they handled the turnover. For those who don’t know the Embassy offered a car with a entrance to the Embassy through a private entrance. This would have insured privacy and sanity. Instead the Brazilian family dressed Sean in the uniform of the Brazilian Olympic uniform and walked him through mobs of photographers for blocks terrorizing the child. Shame on them for the terror that they caused Sean. I think that it speaks volumns that they cared not for the child, but to the challenge to their power in the Brazilian power structure.</p>

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<p>I agree with you ellebud, and it is all the more reason why it is in the child’s best interests to be returned to his dad.</p>

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<p>I agree with you NYMomof2. I have been following this case whenever it has been in the news. The Brazilian step-father is apparently a high powered, influential lawyer who was able to maneuver the court system for years through his family’s influence. They rarely let David Goldman see his son in Brazil, and now the grandmother has the nerve to be upset that her request to accompany the family to the U.S. was denied? David Goldman is the biological father of the boy, and his son belongs with him. I have seen a number of photos taken of the boy with his father, and Sean looked like he was laughing and very happy. I hope that he does adjust very quickly and think that David Goldman will eventually allow the Brazilian family to see Sean in the U.S. However, given what has gone on, I wouldn’t trust them as far as I could throw them, and hope that any visitation would be supervised.</p>

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<p>I couldn’t agree more. I’m sure David Goldman (if he had his druthers) would prefer to tell his ex-wife’s family to stick it where the sun don’t shine, and bar them from ever seeing his son again, but because he is the one person who actually puts Sean first, he knows how devastating it would be for the boy to be cut off from the only family he’s known during most of his life. It’s probably safe to assume he won’t leave them alone with the boy when they come to visit, though. :p</p>

<p>I breathed a huge sigh of relief upon hearing that Sean was finally on his way back to The States with his Dad. It was so wonderful to hear good news in the news for a change.</p>

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<p>That was Elian Gonzales, and I agree that it was correct to send both boys back to their fathers even though it unfortunately meant sending Elian to communist Cuba. I thought of the parallel immediately when this Goldman case started making headlines. I just can’t understand what people are thinking when they argue that a kid would somehow be better raised by cousins and/or grandparents than by his own caring, loving parent. Glad the Brazilian supreme court finally smartened up.</p>

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<p>Regarding NBC paying for the flight, etc.: NBC has been a tremendous asset to David Goldman. It’s through vehicles like The Today Show that he was able to get public opinion on his side and keep his story in the news. That was a tremendous help to him in finally getting this resolved. They “used” each other to good advantage. I don’t think anyone lost anything or was taken advantage of in this arrangement.</p>

<p>Edit: As long as they don’t interview Sean on TV before he’s “ready,” I don’t see anything wrong with it. OTOH, if they parade Sean in front of cameras too soon, then the whole thing will stink to high heaven.</p>

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<p>I am willing to bet that (1) Sean Goldman will not be interviewed on TV, although some limited footage of him will be made available and (2) the Brazilian relatives will be allowed to visit Sean in NJ, under supervised conditions. David Goldman seems to be sensitive and motivated by his son’s best interests. </p>

<p>I couldn’t help thinking of the judgement of Solomon in all this, although the analogy is not perfect. (The Catholic upbringing breaking through…)</p>

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<p>I have absolutely no problem with NBC’s getting the first interview or exclusives. They have been of enormous help. I was just referring to the fact that the father couldn’t have arranged a private jet, nor would the American government. In fact I am waiting to hear the interview on NBC.</p>

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<p>I’ll wager that the Brazilian step-father drops any active interest in Sean after the media interest in the case subsides. What a louse. Apparently the late wife’s relations have the same flawed character. Stereotypical elite Brazilians who care not a whim for neither for the domestic riff-raff nor for everyday Americans like Mr. Goldman.</p>

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<p>For those of you who missed this morning’s interview on the Today Show, Meredith is doing the Dateline on January 8th covering this story…</p>