Heather Hironimus, 31, posted bond and was released at 10:18 pm on May 23 2015 from jail in West Palm beach FL. She had spent nine days there in part of her continuing legal battle with Dennis Nebus, the father of her son, Chase Ryan Nebus-Hironimus, 4 years old.
Dennis and Heather never married but were together for about a year after Chase had been born until they finally separated. They had been warring with each other since before the boy was born and their latest battle has become a worldwide event. They both share custody of Chase and when he was about one year old, they finally agreed on a parenting agreement that was filed in court.
One part of that parenting agreement was an agreement from Heather that she would sign consent forms to allow their son to be circumcised if Dennis chose to have it done. This was a legal document that was approved by a judge and it had stated that Nebus would schedule the circumcision as well as pay for it. Heather agreed to the surgery as well as willingly signing the court papers approving it. It is sometime about two years after she signed this agreement that she became an intactivist, part of a group of anti-circumcision activists who believe that it is a human rights violation and child abuse.
The case had seen a fair amount of media coverage, especially when it was sold as a heart wrenching story of the court system forcing an unwilling mother to agree to have her young son circumcised. What was not stressed was that she had already agreed to it in a legally binding document when the boy was very young. Why she would then set up a facebook page and post numerous pictures of the boy for everyone to see I can only view as a dangerous attempt to drag a child into an adult argument.
Heather had consistently lost the legal battles and finally, ran off with the boy to hide for about 80 days in a domestic violence shelter. Much has been stated about the trauma the boy has gone through already and will face with the surgery, the horror of seeing his mother arrested and how he is terrified of the surgery. Heather has had custody of the boy since his birth and she is the one who has filled his head with these horrors. She also chose not to honor the written agreement that was in place for those years. It certainly sounds as though the couple has been at war from before the boy was even born. It also sounds as though Heather grabbed this topic as her chance to get the boy permanently away from his father.
No matter what she felt about the surgery, she had no right to fill the boy's head with the horrible stories she has. She also did not need to drag him into the public spotlight or get him to believe that it is his body, his right. No adult needs to take a two year old child aside and let them choose what surgeries are done to them..... that is the part of being an adult and parent that Heather missed badly with.
The media spin continued after she was finally arrested and put in jail for contempt. She wasn't forced to sign over her rights to the surgery, she had already agreed to that in a legally binding contract. She was given the chance to get out of jail on the contempt charge by agreeing to follow through on her previous legal agreement. Her legal team had filed a federal lawsuit to try and prevent the surgery but it was very quickly removed when it was clear that she would not win the case. After a few days in jail, she sobbed her way through the signing of permission for the surgery could be done, as she had agreed to do when he was too young to even understand what was being debated.
The boy is now in the custody of his father and hopefully there will be no more media coverage about any surgery. Heather is out of jail for now but she will also face a legal battle for custodial interference for her running and hiding with the boy. I can only hope that the boy will be allowed to live the rest of his years far from any media coverage and that his mother leave her young son out of her very public legal battles in the future.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-mom-heather-hironimus-son-circumcision-jail/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3082655/Fla-woman-fled-avoid-sons-circumcision-arrested.html
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/05/14/us/ap-us-circumcision-fight.html?_r=0
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/mother-of-4-year-old-jailed-for-refusing-to-circumcise-her-son-as-case-goes-to-us-federal-court/story-fnet08ui-1227361964929
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/palm-beach/fl-parents-circumcision-battle-update-20141213-story.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3095275/Florida-woman-jailed-trying-prevent-four-year-old-son-s-circumcision-released-nine-months-bars.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-mom-heather-hironimus-released-jail-son-circumcision/
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2015/05/chase_nebus_hironimus_circumcision_battle_intactivists_form_chase_s_guardians.html
http://www.phillyvoice.com/heather-hironimus-circumcision--federal-court/
