What was apparently intended to be just a six-month separation turned into a parting of eight years for a father and son. The two were reunited earlier this month, marking the end of a child abduction case that highlights issues that international family law attorneys in Virginia deal with regularly.

At the heart of this case stands the Hague Convention on International Parental Child Abduction. While the United States is a signatory to the treaty, many other countries are not. Among them is the African nation of Ivory Coast, which is where the son in this story has been for the past eight years. When the boy was reunited with his dad last month in New York, all dad could do was weep for joy.

For the father, a New Jersey cab driver, it was as if his son had been reborn. And, if not that, at least his desire to be the father he wants himself to be is now being affirmed.

The saga began in 2003 when 2-year-old Philippe-Emmanuel Pothy was sent by his mother to Ivory Coast. The purpose of the visit, according to the mother, was for him to visit her relatives. But she admits it happened to come at a time when she was overwhelmed at home as a mother and college student. She says the father, Eugene Pothy, agreed to sending the boy on the trip. But he says he never expected his boy to be gone eight years.

In going to the media with his story, Pothy said he had tried and failed for years to persuade the mother and her family that the child should be raised in the U.S. Finally, last spring, he began to seek help from the State Department. Officials opened a case but said little action should be expected. Pothy was also advised that trying to recover his son with a U.S. court's child custody order in hand probably wouldn't do any good, either.

Then, last December, with the help of an organization called I CARE, a deal was brokered with Philippe-Emmanuel's mother ensuring that the child would be returned to America. A judge approved it and the mother's family followed through on the agreement.

Under terms of the deal, the boy will live with his father and the mother will share joint custody.

Source: NYDailyNews.com, "Cabbie Eugene Pothy reunited with son stuck in international custody fight," Erica Pearson, Jan. 24, 2012