A Father's Love

April 15, 2011

With the assistance of veteran co-author Abraham (Billy: The Untold Story of a Young Billy Graham and the Test of Faith that Almost Changed Everything, 2008, etc.), Goldman tells the story of his six-year battle to regain custody of his son Sean.

While working in Milan in 1997, the author met his future wife Bruna. Although she was Brazilian, they decided to marry and make their home in the New Jersey beach community where he was raised. Sean was born in 2000. In 2004, Bruna and Sean traveled to Brazil to visit her parents. Goldman planned to join them in a week, but four days after her departure, she phoned to inform him that she was leaving him and demanded sole custody of their son. The author writes that Bruna threatened him and pressured him to sign legal documents granting her custody. Seeking legal advice, he learned that this was not just a custody case. According to the Hague Convention, which had been ratified by both the United States and Brazilian, his wife had kidnapped their son. Despite the fact that U.S. courts ordered the immediate return of the Sean to the United States—where a custody hearing would be held in accordance with the Convention—Goldman was thwarted continually by the Brazilian judicial system. In 2008, having no other recourse, Goldman decided to seek publicity for his case. Featured on NBC, he attracted the attention of New Jersey Representative Chris Smith, who became a determined advocate on his behalf and enlisted support from fellow congressmen, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Obama. Sean became a poster child for thousands of other abducted children, and finally, in December 2009, he was released to the custody of his father.

A riveting tale of an unusual abduction and a father's determination to regain rightful custody of his son.

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