Here's an update on the issue of international child custody.
<<Even the case that moved Clinton to raise the custody issue with Schroeder -- that of New York schoolteacher Joseph Cooke -- has not been resolved. Cooke's two children had been placed in a German foster home in 1992 when their German mother returned to that country from the family's home in the United States and checked herself into a mental health clinic. There they have remained.
German courts ruled in 1995 that the children would suffer "severe psychological loss" if separated from their foster family and would suffer "language shock" if returned to the United States.
Last July, top German officials pledged to reunite Cooke with his children, but the first meeting between Cooke and his children didn't occur until January.
The reunion took place at a zoo in a southern German town. The meeting was difficult. Cooke was nervous and emotional at the prospect of meeting the children he hadn't seen in more than five years, and the children were upset at meeting a father they believe abandoned them as youngsters.
Danny, now 11, was sullen and uncommunicative. Michelle, now 10, seemed frightened, darting away from Cooke to her foster parents whenever he tried to speak to her. The next day, Danny boycotted a planned meeting with his father, and Michelle locked herself in her foster parent's car and hid under a blanket.
Cooke has not seen his children since. Despite numerous attempts by his attorney to set up other meetings, no more are scheduled.
"Right now, I'm back to where I was before," Cooke said. "This is crazy.">>
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