Child abduction and custody out of wedlock

We had a child out of wedlock. She is a mainland chinese and I'm a foreigner. She has taken the child without my knowledge after a disagreement. Now, I can't find her or the child. The local police are unwilling to help as this is a family matter. I've called my embassy, not much can be done.


How can I find this person and my child? Also, if I were to go to court, how do I know which court to go to (jurisdiction, she recently got a new id, which is a different province from where she lived), chances of winning full custody (I have a stable income, the mother has had no job in the past 2 years), and how long and costly for the case? If I go to court, how could they find the mother if she's in hiding? I would prefer to find her and discuss a suitable agreement with her to avoid the courts, but the hard part is finding her.

Whether or not this is a family matter doesn't make it any less of a legal one. Child abduction is a crime, in or out of wedlock. The Police should investigate.

Talk to an (international) family lawyer asap and take immediate action, if you're slow in acting, you may have difficulties with custody once you've found the mother.

PIs should be your second step. With child custody, you must take legal action first if you want to show later in court that you tried to do everything right.

Talk to a local attorney who can explain the law to you.


I wouldn't depend on the police for assistance in this matter. They hardly respond to violent crime, so this is probably a very low priority issue for them.

I don't know what the law is in HK but based on UK law there is very little you can do when your not married unless you have wads of money. A court will not give you custody unless there is solid proof that the mother is a bad mother and has abused and miss treated the child. One of the biggest problems with not being married is you have very few if any rights as a dad. This i know for a fact.

Elodie i'm afraid it is not classed as abduction unless a court order is already in place stating where the child lives, with whom and additional terms to prevent the child being taken out of the country etc without the other parents consent.

I wish you luck and hope you find your child

Totally agreed on british family law, moppet, but things are different in HK, actually quite the opposite.

In this case, it also depends on agreements between HK & China on legal cooperation, so a lawyer familiar with family law in both places would definitely help. Cannot recommend one, though.

Just wondering, mac888, did you register your child with your consulate and does he/she have a passport from your country? If so, the consulate should definitely be able to do something, at least put pressure on government(s)/police. One of their citizens being kidnapped is just one of the situations when a consulate can and must do something.

Thanks for the good advice everyone. Again, the police won't get involved now, it is a low priority as gdbill mentioned. I do want to get some legal action as Elodie mentioned in case of a custody battle. From what I've heard about Chinese PRC laws, the courts tend to favor the mother up to the child being 2 years old. Afterwards, it favors what is in best interest for the child. I would have to prove that the mother has no capabilities to support the child or abuse/mistreatment. I have registered my child as an American citizen, but he has no passport. It requires the signature of both parents whether married or not. Perhaps if I do get his passport by talking to the consulate on extenuating circumstances this will help the situation as it will put pressure on the government(s)/local police as Elodie mentioned. I'm concerned if the mother registers the child as a Chinese citizen under someone else's name or hukou bu. I wonder if this is possible considering I've already registered him as an American and she doesn't have his birth certificate (I have it).