“They are playing for time and bullying”: in the Bryansk region, a mother cannot take a child from a baby house for six months

For the sixth month now, 29-year-old resident of the Bryansk region Victoria Polivoda has not been able to pick up her son from the Klintsovsky Children's Home, who was taken away from her immediately after giving birth. 

As the woman assures, representatives of guardianship tricked her into signing a waiver of her son. 

“The birth was very difficult,” recalls Victoria.

“I bled and passed out from the pain.

She saw her child for only a few minutes, and then they took me to the ward as I was, grimy, I didn’t have the strength to wash myself.

I howled all night in pain, and the nurses still cursed at me: they say, why are you howling, does it really hurt you so much?

Already in the morning, Victoria says, a woman came to her, introducing herself as an employee of the department of guardianship and guardianship.

“I liked this woman at first.

She began to tell that the child was born sick and it is better to refuse him, because he is still not a tenant, ”recalls the young mother.

I say I don't want to refuse.

Then she starts talking to me.

We talk: she tells something about her life, I about mine.

Then he shoves the paper: “Sign the application so that your son will be taken to the regional hospital for examination.”

And after the night I feel bad, everything floats before my eyes.

I believed her, waved without looking.

Only later, according to Polivoda, did a familiar nurse explain to her that she had signed a waiver of the child.

“I began to ask for the child to be returned to me.

Everyone came running, vying to say: yes, he has AIDS, but he is not a tenant, it’s better to refuse, ”says Victoria.

In the department of guardianship and guardianship of the administration of the Klintsovsky district, they refused to explain to RT why their representative began to persuade the young mother to abandon the child.  

The head of the Ivan Chai movement, Elina Zhgutova, who is now helping Polivoda, believes that the social insecurity of the woman served as the reason for such behavior of guardianship employees.

“She is a young single mother,” says Zhgutova.

- The father of the child is a drug addict, and she already has a two-year-old girl.

In the future, two can be selected at once.”

Polivoda says that almost immediately after the signing of the refusal application, the son's profile was placed in the database of children-refuseniks who can be adopted. 

“It turned out that Arseniy is an ideal option for adoptive parents.

And he is completely healthy, and his parents are healthy, ”she says.

"Was yours - became ours"

After the guardianship authorities refused to return the baby to his mother, his grandmother, Tamara Petrovna, decided to take custody of her grandson.

“Mom tried to return the child - she just survived the ordeal.

She was sent to collect more and more certificates, they mocked her as they wanted.

Once, when she was once again in custody, she could not stand it and begged: “Give me back the child!”

And she answered: “It was yours - it became ours,” recalls Maria, the sister of Victoria Polivoda.

According to her, during the collection of the necessary documents, they tried to deprive her mother of her legal capacity.

Tamara Petrovna herself says that the incident occurred when she came to a psychiatrist for help.

“I brought all the necessary documents, went to the psychiatrist for help, and there, apparently, they were already waiting for me.

I go in, I already hear a whisper: here she came, the woman is not herself, she believes that her grandson was kidnapped, - says Tamara Petrovna.

“I was detained there and taken to a psychiatric hospital, although there was not even a formal reason.”

The woman was kept in the hospital for five days, but eventually released after the court session: the court saw no reason to keep the woman in a psychiatric institution.

“I myself called the administration, the prosecutor's office, beat all the bells.

Mom was released only because they were afraid of publicity.

They didn’t expect that everyone would stand up for her like that, ”says Maria.

The prosecutor's office confirmed the violation

“This is just an egregious case.

The family faced a monstrous outrage.

The mother and grandmother are trying by hook or by crook to return the child, and in response they are trying to prove that the grandmother is not herself.

Even if this were true, it means that due to the illegal actions of local authorities, a person has lost his mind.

This is just an additional stain on our administration,” says Konstantin Pavlov, deputy of the Bryansk Regional Duma, who is now helping the family.

He sent a deputy's request to the prosecutor's office.

An inspection carried out at his request confirmed that the child was illegally kept in a baby house.

As stated in the answer (available to RT), Victoria Polivoda really signed a waiver of the child, but a week later she withdrew it and asked to give her son to raise her.

As noted in the prosecutor's office, according to paragraph 2 of Art.

129 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, “parents have the right to withdraw their consent to the adoption of a child before a court decision on his adoption is made.”

The prosecutor's office also found out that the head of the guardianship department of the Klintsovsky district knew that Viktoria had withdrawn her consent to transfer the child to state custody, but her son was still placed in a baby house and refused to be returned to his relatives.

“The body of guardianship and guardianship made an illegal decision to place the child under supervision in a medical organization,” the prosecutor’s office noted.

The decision of the Klintsy city administration, according to which the child was placed in a baby house, was declared illegal by the prosecutor's office.

In connection with this, the prosecutor of the city of Klintsy made a presentation to the head of the city administration; an administrative case was initiated against the head of the guardianship department under Art.

5.37 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (illegal actions for the adoption (adoption) of a child, transferring him under guardianship (guardianship) or to a foster family).

“There are no longer any restrictions, we can pick up the child, but they won’t give him back.

A child in a baby house, there is no reason to keep him, but they are playing for time and scoffing.

Maybe it’s a matter of principle to put pressure on it, ”says Victoria.

At the same time, she says that representatives of guardianship came to her the other day and threatened to take away her eldest daughter.

In turn, human rights activist Elina Zhgutova notes that they began to receive complaints from the localities that sometimes they try not to send children away from the maternity hospital under any pretext.

“The reasons are different: alleged illness and the need for additional treatment, inadequate housing conditions or lack of parenting skills,” says RT Zhgutova.

- The child immediately enters the state support system, and, accordingly, to the base for adoption.

For such children - newborns, from good parents - there is a queue of adoptive parents.

In this case, according to Zhgutova, the prosecutor's office immediately and correctly responded to the ongoing lawlessness.

“But the attack on the family continues,” says Zhgutova.

- Today it is known that guardianship filed a lawsuit to deprive the mother of parental rights in relation to the newborn.

We will fight this in court.

And I hope that the child will return to his mother soon.”