In re Baby Girl F., a Minor

              No. 2--08--0544 Filed: 12-10-08
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IN THE
APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS
SECOND DISTRICT
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In re BABY GIRL F., a Minor ) Appeal from the Circuit Court
) of Boone County.
))
No. 08--AD--4
(Mark B. and Mary Karl B., Petitioners- )
Appellees and Cross-Appellants, v. Krystal F., ) Honorable
Respondent-Appellant and Cross-Appellee ) J. Todd Kennedy,
(Ralph L., Jr., Respondent)). ) Judge, Presiding.
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JUSTICE BOWMAN delivered the opinion of the court:
This case involves an interstate custody dispute between the Illinois birth mother of Baby
Girl F., Krystal F. (respondent-appellant and cross-appellee), and the South Carolina adoptive
parents, Mark B. and Mary Karl B. (petitioners-appellees and cross-appellants). The critical issue
is whether a decision by the South Carolina Supreme Court awarding custody to the adoptive parents
is entitled to full faith and credit in Illinois. We determine that the decision is entitled to full faith
and credit, and we thus affirm.
I. BACKGROUND
In April 2006, 20-year-old Krystal, who was seven months pregnant, contacted an Illinois
adoption agency called A Baby to Love. The adoptive parents retained an attorney in South
Carolina, Ray Godwin, to help them adopt a baby. Attorney Godwin worked with A Baby to Love,
which matched Krystal with the adoptive parents. The adoptive parents retained an Illinois attorney,