[Mrluvaluva]

Originally Posted by joeysteele

In law, at 11 the child is a minor, obviously the child would be assessed and talked to but in law there would be no precedent for the biological parents to lose a child or agree to conditions following a crime against them.
A court and I could confidently say any court in the UK would not go against the strong wishes of the biological parents unless there would be great instability for the child with them.

I would expect though that in such a case,so great would be the relief of the biological parents to get their child back that if the child wanted to see the adoptive parents too, that they would encourage and support the child in doing so.
The child at only 11 years old though could not him/herself demand that to happen.

I understand that's more about the law, but I suppose this is more to do with how we feel as individuals. I know this is a totally different situation, but I think some of the similarities apply:

When a couple become separated, and are going through a divorce, they can either go to court to fight for custody of their children, or come to an amicable mutual agreement. A lot of times, the child's wishes are taken into consideration with whom they wish to live with, and that can be a deciding factor.

The child may become very unhappy at being uprooted from the people they have known as their family all their life. Surely their feelings should be taken into account and they should not automatically be returned to their parents? A gradual introduction to their birth parents might be the best way forward possibly?