By Fiona Hurrell, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Sean Goldman, a young boy who was at the center of a huge custody battle in Brazil in 2009, tells U.S. news program Dateline host Meredith Vieira of the ordeal which sparked international debate and lasted more than a year.
In his first interview about the case, Sean Goldman, now eleven years old, spoke of his feelings of sadness when he remembers the widely documented court case two years ago in which, following the death of his mother, his maternal grandmother and stepfather fought for custody against the boy’s paternal father in New Jersey (U.S.).
The case caused controversy, both in the U.S and Brazil, even attracting the attention of President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Ultimately, after a lengthy court battle, Sean was returned to his father David Goldman with whom he now resides.
Sean told the newscaster Vieira that no one in Brazil had spoken of his father in America, nor that he was trying to get him back. When asked if he ever thinks about his maternal grandmother, Silvana Bianchi, he replies “Not really because it makes me sad and nobody likes to be sad.”
Although Sean still suffers from the ordeal he intends to go back to Brazil someday and visit his other family. He said “Maybe some day I will visit [the Brazilian family], but I want to be older before I go back there because I can’t handle the situation right now.”
When asked about his mother Bruna Bianchi, Sean admitted that he is still upset by her death, explaining “sometimes I get sad because every child who has a parent who has died is sad from time to time. But, you know, I try to live with it.”
Sean Goldman seems to be adjusting well, taking everyday as it comes and trying not to let the past hold him back, affirming “That’s life, overcome challenges.”
Read more (in Portuguese).
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