A family tragedy
A great miscarriage of justice has taken place in the case of “Zephany Nurse” (YOU, 8 September). Yes, Maria did a terrible thing, but she’s been paying for it every day since she committed the crime. She didn’t take Zephany to hurt her and it’s evident she’s been a good mom to Zephany who still loves her deeply despite her crime.
In cases of babies accidentally being swopped at birth it has happened that, when it was discovered, the children chose to stay with the people who’d parented them rather than the “correct” parents and they were given a chance to adjust and seek a relationship with the “real” parents in their own time and judgment.
The courts have seen fit to jail Maria for her crime but in the process have punished everyone involved and not solved the situation at all. The courts in this instance are now guilty of committing an even greater crime against Zephany by plucking away from her the only mother she’s ever known, thereby driving an even deeper wedge between her and her birth mom.
It would have been better to let Zephany choose for herself. JUSTICE FOR ZEPHANY, EMAIL
SIt’s clear to me Zephany is very confused and blames her biological mother and father for what she thinks they did to her “adoptive” mother. Zephany should realise her real parents didn’t ask anybody to steal her from them.
Having lost a daughter myself, I can imagine the horror for them of not knowing where she was and if she was well taken care of. The fact that Maria seems to have been a “good” mom is not the issue. She committed one of the most heinous acts – stealing a baby from her parents who had the right to bring her up with their value system and to love and care for her.
Zephany, blood is thicker than water. AMANDA, EMAIL
SZephany, through no fault of her own, is now forced to carry the burdens of adults’ actions. I hope she’ll turn to her biological parents from whom she was so cruelly taken. She needs and sorely deserves a home of stability, security and deeply committed love.
Brokenness can’t heal brokenness. Only selflessness, love, commitment and doing what is right can. SHAN BRADBURY, STELLENBOSCH