Adoption of Aleah M.
This is an appeal by Melissa O., the biological mother of now almost eight-year-old Aleah M., from a judgment terminating her parental rights to Aleah and freeing Aleah for adoption by Aleah’s stepmother, Jessica M. The basic theory of the judgment is that Melissa abandoned Aleah for a period in excess of one year, leaving Aleah with Jessica for that time period without support. (Fam. Code, § 7822.)
Melissa’s sole argument on appeal is remarkable. She does not argue that the evidence of abandonment was insufficient. Rather, she argues the “record demonstrates conclusively†Aleah’s father George and his wife Jessica “were not credible.†That is a very high bar to set for oneself on appeal. In Adoption of Allison C. (2008) 164 Cal.App.4th 1004 (Allison C.), for example, this court dismissed a challenge to a finding of abandonment based on credibility in a single sentence in a footnote, merely noting credibility is for the trial court to determine. (Id. at p. 1015, fn. 9.)
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