Florida parents who are involved in child custody disputes may be aware of the many tragic cases of international child abduction recent in the media. Often, parent-child abduction occurs when one of the parents is native to a foreign country. In such a case, the parent may legally leave the United States to visit home and relatives, with the parent left behind typically assuming the other parent and the child will return.

Unfortunately, in too many situations this is not the case, and the U.S. parent is forced to work through the courts, often both here and in the foreign country, to enforce their child custody rights.

To handle such disputes, a majority of nations in North and South America, along with the European Union states, Russia, Australia and South Africa, have signed a treaty called the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Hague Abduction Convention). In these countries, the law requires that all international child custody disputes be handled in the child's home country.

When a child is taken to a country that has not signed the Hague Abduction Convention, however, U.S. parents -- even those with child custody orders from U.S. courts -- can find themselves with essentially no rights and little recourse except to work with the U.S. Embassy.

The outcomes of these cases are generally poor. Even if a parent is able to recover the child, it typically takes years to achieve -- years of separation between loving parents and their children. Many parents never regain their children.

In a recent case, the outcome was relatively positive, and heartwarming. In 2003, the mother of a two-year-old boy was overwhelmed by the responsibility and asked the boy's father for permission to take their son to the Ivory Coast where he could be raised by family members -- for six months, or so his father, a cab driver from New Jersey, claims.

Eight years later, the child was still in the Ivory Coast, which is not a signatory to the Hague Abduction Convention and which was not inclined to grant the father custody rights, even though the mother had returned to the U.S. shortly after establishing her son with her family.

After eight years of struggle, the father and son were reunited earlier this week.

With the help of a child abduction advocate and a hearing before the New Jersey Supreme court, the parents were able to come to an agreement to bring the boy home. According to the terms of that agreement, the father will have custody of the son, while the boy's mother will have visitation rights.

The child, now 10, recognizes his father only from Facebook photos, but says he is glad to be home. His father is ecstatic.

"Eight years. Eight years," he told reporters. "This is all I have been hoping for for eight years. The day has come."

Source: New York Daily News, "Cabbie Eugene Pothy reunited with son stuck in international custody fight," Erica Pearson, Jan. 17, 2012