Effort Underway To End Parental Rights Of Oklahoma Woman

Associated Press

SHAWNEE, OK -- Authorities are working to end the parental rights of a woman who left her newborn twins in the bed of a pickup truck outside a fire station in Shawnee. 

Pottawatomie County District Attorney Richard Smothermon says the boy and girl remain in state custody after being found in May. Smothermon says the babies could be adopted after the parental rights are terminated. 

5/3/2010  Related Story: Twin Infants Found Are Talk Of Shawnee Fire House

The mother has been identified as a Seminole County woman who spoke with Shawnee Police Chief Russell Franz days after the babies were found. Franz says the woman declined to reclaim the children and Smothermon says she appears to have now gone into hiding. 

A 2001 state law allows a parent to leave a baby up to 7 days old with a medical provider or child rescuer without being prosecuted.