For the past three years, actress Kelly Rutherford has been fighting for custody over her two young children, Hermes (9) and Helena (6). The "Gossip Girl" actress has done every possible thing she could to gain custody over her children and has appeared several times on Capitol Hill and a White House petition. Unfortunately, the custody battle finally came to a close last Tuesday in favor of her estranged ex-husband, Daniel Giersch. As ordered by the court, custody for both children will be going to their German father.
Rutherford and Giersch have been involved in a very public custody battle even before their divorce was finalized in 2009. At that time, Rutherford was pregnant with her youngest daughter. Their marriage only lasted three years. In 2012, Rutherford lost custody of her children which she considered as the most 'shocking, illegal and abusive' experience of her life. Ever since then, she's been fighting for their custody.
As a result of this custody battle, Rutherford has gone bankrupt. She has incurred about $1.4 million worth of legal fees just so she could fight to have her children be kept in the United States. For her ex-husband, however, Rutherford believes this is just a 'side fun project' for him, especially since he has unlimited funds.
The Monacan court granted full custody to Giersch because a judge feared the actress would abduct her children and bring them to the United States. Back in August, Rutherford faced the same predicament when the court ordered her to return the children to their father in Monaco. At that time, the children were visiting their mom for a short two-month summer vacation. When she didn't, her ex-husband described her action as tantamount to a kidnap. Their father, however, could not go to the United States since he was facing Visa issues.
After the court's decision was announced, Rutherford spoke with the awaiting paparazzi and said that she had "no words." Considering the actress founded the Children's Justice Campaign to help other families facing the same legal battles, this was a strong blow to her as a parent. On social media, the actress shared some inspirational messages to help her go through this predicament.
She has already filed an appeal.
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