Burmese refugee loses rights to son she abandoned in Wheaton

A Burmese refugee on Monday was stripped of her remaining parental rights to the son she abandoned at birth in Wheaton more than two years ago.

DuPage County Judge Robert Anderson said Nunu Sung’s child is better off with the foster parents who have raised him since he was 10 days old.

“The only home this child has ever known is the foster family,” Anderson said. “They provided him with a loving, nurturing, protective environment.”

He said Sung “cruelly abandoned and neglected” the boy.

Sung, 27, has been fighting to be reunited with the now-2½-year-old in anticipation of her release from prison.

Her attorneys said she will appeal now that her parental rights are legally terminated.

“This case, unfortunately, has been about an appeal since day one,” said Terra Howard, who represented Sung with attorney Jennifer Wiesner.

Sung delivered the boy behind her cousin’s Wheaton apartment in June 2009 and left him under a bush in a neighbor’s yard. The infant, who had hypothermia, was found by the neighbor and his dog a short time later.

Sung pleaded guilty to obstructing justice for lying to police about the infant being hers. She agreed to a maximum prison sentence in exchange for a promise that prosecutors would not interfere with her plans to fight for custody. The state’s attorney’s office was drawn into the case last year, however, after one of the boy’s court-appointed guardians challenged Sung’s parental fitness.

Anderson noted in his ruling Monday that Sung testified she abandoned the boy because she was ashamed of having a baby out of wedlock, and that the shame would extend to the boy. At no point, he said, did Sung try to withdraw her plea, possibly because she could have faced more serious charges.

“The mother weighed her risk and chose not to withdraw her plea,” the judge said. “This reflects on her best interest, not her son’s. She appeared to care very little for her son’s (best interest).”

Anderson also terminated the rights of the boy’s father, who expressed no interest in raising the child and did not attend the court proceedings.

Howard and Wiesner, who volunteered to represent Sung, maintained she is entitled to the benefits of the original plea agreement, which will be the focus of her appeal.

“She wasn’t going to get justice here in DuPage County from the beginning,” Wiesner said. She said prosecutors had to “save face” and show “they care about the child and are tough on crime.” The Wheaton couple caring for Sung’s child declined to comment as they left court. But they testified previously that they love and want to adopt the boy who is now a member of their family and church community.

Anderson said the couple also tried to incorporate the boy’s Burmese culture into his life.

Sung, who at an earlier hearing was found unfit to parent the boy, remained composed in court Monday. Her attorneys said they had prepared her for the ruling.

Sung fled Burma in 2005 and traveled through Malaysia before arriving in the U.S. as a legal refugee. She became pregnant in Texas, she testified, before moving to Wheaton to be with family members.

Sung is currently detained by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Her attorneys said they’re working to get her released soon.

Anderson said he will appoint a guardian to oversee the child’s transition into adoption.