Oregon Seizes Custody of Two Kids Because of Their Parents' Low IQ

Maureen Collins | August 2, 2017
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An Oregon couple has been fighting the state for custody of their two sons for the past four years. 

Amy Fabbrini and Eric Ziegler have been deemed by the state not to be "intellectually capable" of taking care of their two children. Their oldest son, Christopher, was removed from their care shortly after his birth. Their second son, Hunter, was removed directly from the hospital after he was born in February.

Both Fabbrini and Ziegler have below-average IQ's but, according to the Oregonian, there has been no history of neglect or abuse with either of their two children. 

Sherrene Hagenbach, a former volunteer for Oregon's child protective services who observed the two parents during visits with their children, told the Oregonian that the agency was "saying [Fabbrini and Ziegler] are intellectually incapable without any guidelines to go by." Hagenbach is now fighting for the couple to get their children back.

Fabbrini and Ziegler said they have both taken parenting classes in the hopes that the state will give their boys back.

"It doesn't seem like it's good enough for them," Ziegler said. 

In the background of all this is Amy's father,  Raymond Fabbrini, who said that his daughter "does not have the instincts to be a mother." Amy had lived with her father with her two other children from a previous marriage. After Christopher was born, Amy's father urged her to put him up for adoption. When she refused, Mr. Fabbrini went to state authorities. 

The couple's attorney, Aron Perez-Selsky, filed two unsuccessful motions to have Christopher returned to his parents' custody. 

"A cognitively impaired parent can still parent," Perez-Selsky said. "Their rights cannot be terminated simply because they suffer from cognitive impairment."

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