In re Micah Alyn R.

Ada R. (defendant) was suffering from AIDS, and her two-and-one-half-year-old son Micah was HIV positive. Due to Ada’s and Micah’s conditions, Ada voluntarily allowed Micah to go into foster care. The following year, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (the department) (plaintiff) filed a petition to involuntarily terminate the parental rights of Hansel R., Micah’s father, stating that Ada wanted to allow her son to be adopted. However, Ada had a change of heart and wanted to regain full custody of Micah. Hansel’s parental rights were terminated, and the department sought to terminate Ada’s parental rights. At a hearing, a circuit court heard testimony regarding Ada being physically abusive toward Micah and forgetting to provide his medication. However, the court also heard testimony regarding Ada’s improvement in her patience with Micah and in remembering to provide his medication. Ada testified that she felt stronger, loved her son, and wanted reunification. The court deferred making a decision until receiving the guardian ad litem’s recommendation, which was that the court should delay a decision on terminating parental rights and allow Ada liberal visits with Micah. However, a few months later, Ada’s condition grew worse. Ada became tired quickly, slept often, and experienced dizziness. The department felt that Ada was not able to provide Micah with his medicine correctly or provide meals. At a subsequent hearing, Ada’s parental rights were terminated, although she was permitted to continue visiting Micah. Ada appealed, arguing that the circuit court should not have ruled that Micah was abused and neglected. However, the appellate court determined that testimony substantiated this finding, given Ada’s physical abuse and difficulty in giving Micah his medicine. Ada also challenged the circuit court’s determination that there was no reasonable chance that the conditions cited could be significantly remedied in the future. Again, the appellate court found that the trial court’s ruling was substantiated by reports of Ada’s decline by the time of the subsequent hearing. Yet it seemed to the appellate court that the main reason Ada’s rights were terminated was due to her fatal disease.