Biological father sues Catholic Charities over newborn’s adoption

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – A man who lost custody of his newborn son, only to have an appellate court reverse termination of his parental rights, is suing Catholic Charities West Michigan for placing the child with an adoptive family.

The child was put up for adoption shortly after birth three years ago.

The lawsuit alleges Catholic Charities committed fraud and failed to look for the biological father, Peter Kruithoff. In separate proceedings, a Kalamazoo County judge terminated his parental rights while an Ottawa County judge awarded him custody.

“The conduct of Defendants was extreme and outrageous and beyond the bounds of what is acceptable in civilized society,” attorneys John Moritz and Michael Villar wrote in the lawsuit.

They had originally filed the lawsuit in Ottawa County Circuit Court but Catholic Charities asked that it be moved to federal court.

Chief Executive Officer David Bellamy said Catholic Charities attorneys expect to soon file a response to the lawsuit.

Bellamy issued the following statement: “The safe delivery law was put into place to give parents the opportunity to protect their child from harm and place them up for adoption anonymously, which was the case for this mother. Catholic Charities West Michigan had no knowledge of names or identifying information regarding the parents or child in this case and we acted in accordance of the law, using State-approved communication methods to reach out to the child’s bio family, before the child was placed in a loving home through adoption.”

The child, born to Kruithoff’s then-estranged wife, was placed with his adoptive parents after his birth mother surrendered the child under Michigan’s Safe Delivery of Newborns Law.

She indicated she was married but did not identify Kruithoff, the lawsuit said.

The child was placed with his adoptive family after social workers indicated they could not find the biological father. Meanwhile, the father, had filed for divorce in Ottawa County just before the birth.

The Ottawa County judge said neither the mother nor father could take “any action pertaining to the permanent placement or adoption of the unborn child pending further order of the court.”

In a 2-1 decision in August, a state Court of Appeals panel vacated the Kalamazoo County judge’s termination of Kruithoff’s parental rights.

The lawsuit is seeking financial damages.

Kruithoff separated from his wife in May 2018 while she was pregnant. Because he was charged with domestic violence, bond conditions prevented him from contacting her, the lawsuit said.

His wife’s parents told him she was considering giving the child up for adoption, prompting him to file for divorce in Ottawa County, the lawsuit said.

He hired a private investigator to find her and serve her with divorce papers.

Kruithoff thought she was going to have the baby at Holland Hospital but she gave birth at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital on Aug. 9, 2018, the day after he filed for divorce. She used her maiden name.

In a petition, social workers said the mother and father of the child were listed as “unknown,” the lawsuit said.

The child was placed temporarily with the prospective adoptive family.

Kruithoff’s attorneys said authorities had to make “reasonable efforts” within 28 days to find the “non-surrendering parent” but only published a vague notice in The Grand Rapids Press.

Catholic Charities did not question the birth mother about the identity of the father but knew that they were married, the lawsuit said.

On Sept. 28, 2018, the Kalamazoo County judge terminated Kruithoff’s parental rights.

“Catholic Charities conduct was grossly negligent and constitutes willful and/or wanton misconduct in that it did not take reasonable efforts to locate the nonsurrendering parent,” the lawsuit said.

The attorneys said that “Catholic Charities was an integral part of the safe delivery and subsequent termination of parental rights of Plaintiff and, as such, has intentionally inflicted emotional distress upon Plaintiff.”

They said that the organization told the Ottawa County court and the plaintiff that the adoption occurred in Kent County, not Kalamazoo County. Kruithoff would have sought to intervene in Kalamazoo County if he known, his attorneys said.