Gregory Kingsley

Gregory Ralph Kingsley (born July 28, 1980) is the first American child, who, at the age of 12 years, legally severed ties with his mother. He changed his name to Shawn Russ after the juvenile court judge Thomas S. Kirk "ended the parental rights of his natural mother and allowed [his] foster parents to adopt him".

The eldest of three children, Kingsley was born in Denver, Colorado, to Rachel Kingsley and Ralph Kingsley, Sr., who became estranged from his family, giving Rachel Kingsley custodial rights. Gregory's two younger brothers, Jeremiah and Zachary, remained with their mother, but Gregory went to live with his alcoholic father, who forbade him from having any contact with them. Eventually, Gregory was reunited with his mother and two siblings; however, his mother's drug use prevented her from parenting, and so she voluntarily put her two oldest sons into foster care in 1990. Gregory was placed in a boys shelter, where he met and befriended George H. Russ, who had first come to the shelter as a member of a government commission exploring the "needs of children". He was a father and an attorney, and he empathized with Gregory, having had an unhappy childhood himself. In October 1991, he and his wife Lizabeth agreed to adopt Gregory, bringing him to live with their eight biological children.

In 1992, with the support of the Russ family, Gregory took steps to legally divorce his parents as he wanted to remain with his adopted family. The lawsuit became widely publicized, and the media referred to him as "Gregory K". George Russ said that he had convinced Gregory to take the "unusual step of seeking the right to sue because he feared that the state might take Gregory out of the Russ home" if he himself had sued. On June 9, 1992, Judge Thomas S. Kirk allowed Gregory to file a petition for divorce, deciding that he had the same rights as an adult to fight for his own interests.

Rachel Kingsley, his mother, a "30-year-old unemployed waitress", was characterized by a neighbor as someone who "liked to go out partying", and often had different men spend the night with her. When she took the witness stand, she "denied accusations of drug abuse, homosexuality, promiscuity, and child abuse" made by Gregory Kingsley's lawyers, which included foster parent George H. Russ. At the time of the trial, Gregory Kingsley had lived with his biological mother only seven months out of the past eight years. Gregory's biological father did not contest the adoption.

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