write explaining why she felt the adoption was in the best interest of herself and the infant. Ann was informed that once her reply was received, the agency's report would be supplied to the court.
Nowhere in the transcript is there any statement by Ann that she felt that the petition would be held in abeyance until she made a reply. Rather, she testified that after receiving the agency's communication (this was the second inquiry made of Ann by Child Welfare Services) she met with her boyfriend, John's natural father, and both read the letter "to see if we had made a mistake." This meeting apparently occurred in early August 1970. She said she wrote several replies but tore them up. Finally, on September 20 or 22, she consultedthe hospital until the bills were paid. She claimed that it was after this conversation that she agreed to sign the paper. Ann insisted that the persons whose signatures appear on the document as witnesses to her consent were not present at the time she signed the paper. The adoptive parents and the two witnesses testified that they were all present when Ann gave her written consent. Kathy categorically denied that she made any statement relative to Ann's and the baby's inability to leave the hospital. Kathy did inform the court that she had a conversation with her sister wherein she told Ann that the hospital bills would be paid by the adoptive parents. When Ann left the hospital, she returned to the mobile home where she stayed