The Long Road Ahead...

Spent the last few days stuck at home sick with the flu. Being sick sucks enough normally without the added worry of stressing about Dominic being ok. It also kinda sucks not being able to take most medications. I did end up taking 2 Tylenol yesterday, which were on my approved list of "safe" medications by my doctor. I hate taking anything unless it's absolutely necessary because I get paranoid about the potential effects to Dominic, but there was no way I would have been able to get comfortable or fall asleep with taking something to relieve the back pain. Still not feeling 100% today, but leaps and bounds better by comparison to yesterday. And Dominic was doing all sorts of somersaults this morning so that eased some of my worry and made me smile.

Went to see my attorney in NY last week about some business matters and ended up discussing the whole custody/sperm donor situation with him. According to the research I did on my own, under Utah state law, the "father" (and I use that term loosely) has the right to petition the court to sign over his parental rights. In order to do so, he must prove he's not trying to avoid any financial obligation and that the decision is in the best interest of the child. I was under the impression that as long as I was on board with this decision and wasn't asking for anything financially, it would be a no-brainer for the courts to honor this request. However, my attorney seems to think it won't be that easy. He's going to delve more into the Utah state law this week, but he said typically the courts won't allow either parent to give up legal responsibility of the child (regardless of why) unless the child is in imminent danger or unless there is someone else wanting to adopt the child. Looks like I might have a more difficult road ahead of me than I anticipated. In any case, I just want what's best for Dominic. If that means the sperm donor finally stepping up and being a good dad like he is to his daughter, then great. Or if that means us fighting the court to keep him out of Dominic's life, that's fine too. I just want to avoid any situations where sperm donor comes walking back into his life after years of not being around. For now, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that someone will make the right decision - be it sperm donor or the Utah courts.

"Tough times never last, but tough people do."