Page:Schenck v. Knight.pdf/10

Rh his condition. She said her parents help out on the medical bills.

The substance of Mrs. Brown's testimony pertinent to Donna Marie's ability to care for her child is to the effect that in her opinion Donna Marie is thoroughly capable of being a mother to the infant child; that there is no question that she and Donna Marie together can do a good job of caring for the child; that the kind people of Conway have given her a baby bed and clothing for the child and with the continued assistance of the Welfare Department in food stamps and cash money, she feels that she and Donna Marie can make a satisfactory home in the trailer space she has available for the child, and that it would be to the best interest of all concerned if Donna Marie was awarded the custody of the child. Mrs. Brown said that besides the $116 in cash she receives from the Welfare Department, she also receives $148 worth of food stamps per month. She said that the trailer she now rents has two bedrooms with a couch that makes into a full bed. She said Donna Marie shares the double bed with her; that Debby and Julie, the two youngest children, share the other bedroom, and the living-room couch is made into a bed for Eddie.

Donna Marie testified that she was born December 18, 1957, and was 14 years of age at the time she testified. She said that she never did get to hold her baby after it was born but that she would like to. She said she already knows how to do most things necessary in caring for a baby and that her mother would help her. She said if given the custody of the child, her mother could take care of it in the daytime while she is in school and that she could take care of it at night. She said she loves her child dearly and wants possession and custody of it.

Mr. Julian Nabholz testified that he adopted Mrs. Brown in 1937 when she was five weeks old; that she graduated from high school and attended Arkansas State Teacher's College. He testified as to Mrs. Brown's marriage to Schenck, the birth of the four children and the divorce from Schenck. He was then asked and answered the following questions: