The foster grandparents of a 10-year-old girl have filed a lawsuit to become the child's legal guardians because her mother is a convicted drug addict and has been missing for a year.

The couple's lawyer argued in the Changning District People's Court that Zhou Jin, the girl's mother, had never cared for her daughter and that her drug addiction would be a negative influence. The lawyer also said the couple deserved custody because they had raised her almost from birth and wanted to ensure she would get a proper education.

The court heard that Zhou Shuangdu, 70, and Qin Yufen, 68, adopted Zhou Jin in 1978 when she was a newborn in a hospital.

Zhou Shuangdu told the court that their adopted daughter started doing drugs when she got older and stole money and valuables from their home.

"She often stayed out all night and only returned home for money," he said in court. "Each time she came back home we would find money or jewelry missing the next day. Once we even found she broke into our flat by picking the lock when we spent our Spring Festival in our hometown."

Their daughter was arrested and sentenced to one-year of re-education for gambling and drug addiction in 2000. Her parents then terminated their adoptive relationship with Zhou Jin.

In 2005, she found them and begged them to raise a 3-month-old baby girl she had delivered out of wedlock and whose father was not known.

"She said she had no relatives or friends to turn to except for us and promised the infant's stay was temporary. We believed her," Zhou Shuangdu said in court.

After that, Zhou Jin rarely visited and no contact had been made in the past year.

"At first she sometimes came to see her daughter or called her during festivals but last year we couldn't contact her," Zhou Shuangdu said.

The elderly couple said they could never get the girl a hukou because her mother was never around long enough. Without a hukou, schools don't accept a student.

However, the couple managed to enroll her in a primary school with the help of district educational authorities. The fourth grader will soon advance to middle school and the couple said they want legal custody so they can apply for a hukou.



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