A NEW-BORN baby is in the middle of a controversy, as three women, including his biological mother and a woman she says is her best friend, battle for custody in a matter which has engaged police and the Child Care and Protection Agency (CPA).Roberta Browne, mother of the baby, said she was frustrated when she handed the baby over to her friend, but realised hours after, that she had made a mistake. When she telephoned the woman, whose name she gave to this publication, the woman refused to return her baby, and told her she would have to visit the welfare department which had custody of the child.

A tearful Browne yesterday spoke to the Guyana Chronicle at her Bagotville, West Bank Demerara home. Guyana Chronicle was also able to meet family members of this 22-year-old mother of three.

Browne’s mother, Daphne Browne, said the other woman’s mother, also named, had been her very close friend, thus their daughters became bonded from childhood association. The other woman became Roberta’s best friend, and Roberta at one time lived in Diamond with that family.

Roberta Browne said she never intended to give away her child, but merely left him in care of this other woman while she visited the hospital, on December 28, to seek medical care for a health condition.

Since that day, she said, she and this woman have been at loggerheads over the return of the baby, whom she never got opportunity to name because he was just a few days old at the time.

Roberta said the other woman told her she had given the baby to another woman who has no children, and she is upset and distressed because her baby is with someone with whom she is not familiar.

NEVER MET
When Guyana Chronicle contacted Roberta’s erstwhile best friend, albeit by telephone yesterday, she said she had never before met nor heard of Roberta Browne, and she has never had contact with Browne’s baby. She has heard of Browne only by reading her story in a local newspaper yesterday.

However, Browne even presented a photograph as evidence that this woman had indeed been her friend, and she informed this publication that the woman was employed at another media house in the past, but is now employed in the hospitality industry. She also gave other details about the woman, including that she got married last Saturday.

Browne’s relatives turned out in their numbers at the home yesterday and voiced their concerns. An aunt, Suzette Browne, said the family prefers that Roberta’s baby stays in the custody of relatives, even if the mother of the infant is incapable of caring for him. She said her niece has two older children, and although she has been unemployed for a while, she receives money on a regular basis from her dad, Robert Kelder, and his wife Catherina, who live in Europe. Besides, this aunt said, Roberta is supported by other members of the family.

The woman said that if the Child Protection Agency (CPA) is not willing to place the baby in Roberta’s care, then she is willing to take custody of the infant and care for her great nephew.

Roberta Browne lives in a three-bedroom house with her two children and her grandmother, while her aunt lives in the same yard in a three-bedroom house as well.

CPA head, Ann Greene, said the child is in the care of the agency, which has also launched an investigation to decide whether the child was sold or is a victim of trafficking. Greene said the CPA is interested in knowing that the baby is given the best possible care. She also disclosed that the CPA has begun looking into the interest of Browne’s two other children, aged six and one respectively.

The police are also investigating this matter.

By Shauna Jemmott