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In the Interest of A.F., Minor Child
A.J.F., Mother-Appellant
D.F., Father-Appellant
Attorney for Appellant Mother
Ashley M. Sparks
Attorney for Appellant Father
Nicolas G. Fontanini
Attorney for Appellee State
Anagha Dixit, Assistant Attorney General
Guardian ad litem
Nicole Berman
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Boone County, James B. Malloy, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS. Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Bower and McDonald, JJ. Opinion by Potterfield, P.J. (7 pages)
The mother and father separately appeal the termination of their parental rights to their child, A.F., who was born in October 2011. Each parent challenges the determination that termination is in A.F.’s best interests and claims the court should have found that a permissive factor precludes termination and should have saved the parent-child relationships by placing A.F. in a guardianship with her paternal grandmother rather than terminating the parental rights. OPINION HOLDS: The paternal grandmother’s willingness to enter into a guardianship does not make the arrangement the best choice for A.F., who has struggled for want of stability. As each parent may spend the rest of A.F.’s childhood in prison, termination of their parental rights is in A.F.’s best interests and no permissive factor outweighs termination. We affirm on both appeals.
