Roommates photograph

Roommates

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First episode dateMarch 23, 2009
Final episode dateMay 4, 2009
Networks American Broadcasting Company
Freeform
Writers Kieron Quirke
Robin French
Chris Case
Samantha Montgomery McIntyre
May 4, 2009
Date of Reg.
Date of Upd.
ID2320757
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About Roommates


ABC Family's first foray into half-hour comedy follows a group of friends in Manhattan as they try to figure out life and love after their college years. Romantically inept Mark becomes the new roommate of his high-school crush, Katie, hoping finally to seal the deal, but Katie is still carrying a torch for her commitment-shy boyfriend. It doesn't help that Mark isn't exactly a hit with Hope, Katie's best friend and other roommate, but his own best friend, Thom, takes an instant liking to her. …

"I ran away to France to have my baby'

Feb 16,2020 3:27 am

Every year to stop A Number of pregnant women from the United Kingdom in an attempt to get the their babies in care. In the year 2015, Zara was One of them. With your baby due to the day they Packed a small bag and left everything behind. But once they had crossed the channel, it went bad.

There is a photo of Zara in a garden in France, holds her passport in front of your huge belly.

she is looking proud. The passport means Freedom - you are back in control. And soon she will give birth to a child, she hopes that she Can keep.

had been sitting A week before that, Zara , in your living room in England, scouring The Internet . Thirty-seven weeks pregnant, she had begun to doubt that the social services would allow her to keep her baby. Her plan had been to Work with you This Time , to convince her that she was able to be A Mother . But they had not given her a Yes or a no, and The Baby was about to come.

Zara was already known to social services. Their first child was placed in care when she was 16, in a time, you self-murderer was Japanese, she says, and asked to leave her foster home. Her Second Child was two years later, she was in an abusive relationship with an older man.

"lose the distance just like a child. They feel compelled to be A Mother and a child-shaped hole in your heart that needs to be filled," she says.

"I've never recovered really. "

Find out more lists to Zara (not her real name) tells Her Story , The Woman of the hour at 10:00 on BBC Radio 4 , followed by a discussion with child protection experts

you Can also, or

But a few years had passed before she became pregnant with Her Third child, and this she thought, she might be allowed to keep.

"When I was pregnant for the third time, it was a new beginning. I thought it was moving in order, and start again. I lived in hope," Zara says.

"I wanted to be the mom I was never, because of the abusive relationships and my volatile family situation. "

she had not told her family of her pregnancy. The Only People she felt that she could speak, were Strangers Online - hundreds of them, in Facebook groups Set Up to vent to people who support and advise each other on the social services and child removal.

These third-party fueled Zara fears and made your situation seems hopeless, she says.

"I was told that my child would be removed and the only solution was to leave the country, and you will leave us now," she says.

So when Zara was invited by a British woman to stay in One of the Facebook groups in France, outside the jurisdiction, they seized the chance.

"they offered me a job and accommodation, and sold me a new life," she says.

Within four hours, Zara in London, taking her seat on a Eurostar train. She had only a small bag. She'd Packed the things for your baby, filled with enough underwear to last week, found space for a change of clothes.

"It was absolutely mental and horrible. My heart pounded and my head was a mess," she says.

"I didn't understand what I did, it was the robot. Pack, book my ticket, check, double-check.

"in the meantime, I was struggling to keep My Baby in the UK, but then there was a change. It was huge, dramatic, frightening and life changing. "

After the adoption of The Woman , the invitation and booking your ticket, you will have been advised, with A Man by the name of Ian Josephs.

Once a councillor in the UK, a wealthy resident of Monaco, he runs a site where he campaigns against forced adoptions. He offers advice for people dealing with social services or The Family courts. He also provides, sometimes, financial help for families from the United Kingdom in countries such as France, Cyprus, Ireland and Spain. And for many, this makes him a Hero - testimonials on his website to thank him for his support.

he said he would refund Zara travel; if you showed him proof of social services, commitment, travel, receipts and proof of pregnancy, which would be transferred The Money as soon as she was in France.

When Zara arrived in Paris, Gare du Nord train station, The Woman she had met online was there to Greet you. It turned out that she was pregnant, also. They hugged, as if they were old friends.

It was high summer and they were on a long journey along the "nice" country roads. Then The Car came to a standstill.

"We stopped in The Middle of nowhere. I thought we were taking a break, but I was in The Barn , said in front of me was my new home," Zara says.

There was a small bedroom with a bunk bed. That was from another pregnant young British woman strongly manned by the name of Kelly. To travel from The Station Zara had said she was "lazy" and "always yelling at to be used".

"I was a two-seater sofa splits-beds in the living room-cum-second-bedroom. The Woman , who was also her partner and two-year-old daughter would be my Roommates - All of them sharing The Other sofa-bed. I was shocked.

"But if The Woman closed the door behind us and took The Key out of the door, I thought, 'Oh, no. '"

Zara felt extremely vulnerable. They still hoped for The Best , but was intimidated also.

was needed money for food, so they gave it to him. The Woman arranged to be checked for Zara , in a hospital, so she handed over the European Health Insurance card. Then, if you are prompted to enter your bank card and passport were handed over to them, but quickly regretted it.

"I was never Left Alone . The Woman was volatile and had you fly off the handle at the smallest things," Zara says. "The Situation was scary and humiliating. I didn't want to ask because I knew the consequences and I was not ready to find out what they were. "

Then, on the fourth day, Zara did it again - they fled.

"was The Woman on The Phone in The Garden , and her purse was on the sofa. I asked Kelly to keep watch and grabbed The Keys and my passport. I grabbed Kelly's Pass. Her face white went. She Said she wanted to come with me, but too fearful.

"I looked back once, when I out of the house. I found a run-down gas station and I hid behind the pumps," she says.

from there, they hitched a ride, And Then in contact with The Police , who helped her find an old friend from childhood days in France.

"is It from that moment on, I was sure My Baby was safe," Zara says. It is the moment, the coveted photo of you holding her passport was taken.

"I gave birth to Two Weeks later. It was a brilliant new life. "

she says, the French authorities monitored her at first, but later closed, to say in your case, you had safety concerns for your child.

After a year, though, Zara missed home. She began to think about returning to the UK, even though they knew it was risky. "I had proved myself in France and I thought I could come back to the UK and to prove myself here," she says.

In reality, you couldn't. Their escape across the channel had just relates more to The Authorities .

Zara arrived in the UK in the same way that you left mysterious. Her step mother only knew, she was, as she opened the door and saw her standing there. But she says, someone needs to The Authorities , which came long before The Police and social services will be alerted, and their third child was removed.

"How not to be a good parent in One country and not in another could I?" Zara asks.

"I Can 't understand. This is what haunts me. "

"clearly, more parents will get advice. I would not have seen 10 years ago," says Sarah Phillimore, a lawyer in the Family Law .

On your blog, you catalogs of their concerns about what it calls a world, plagued by the "sinister exploitation".

"From what utilized I said, people are At Risk , financially and sexually. It is extremely disturbing," she says.

But it throws The British authorities, on the grounds that they have a "serious crisis" in Social Work - One that often workers without time leaves social to establish trusting relationships that are required when dealing with people who are "scared by a system that doesn't understand you".

And if the families think that they are treated with more understanding in foreign countries, in some cases, you may be right, she says.

"Every European country has a mechanism for non-consensual adoption; only in the United Kingdom uses it with such enthusiasm. Families have The Perception that it will be perceived in places like France as a sympathetic and supportive - so they flee. "

when you escape, you Can "sucked," as she says.

"I've been saying for years, I Am concerned that a child or the mother must die before someone does something. "

advice and support

- a "parent " pack" of The Association of lawyers for children

Sarah Phillimore, very critical of Ian Joseph's, with the argument that his actions encourage the women to flee, and thus even in danger.

Zara and Kelly are pseudonyms



social services, child protection, france, long reads

Source of news: bbc.com

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