MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. -- A two-month-old at the center of an international custody case can soon go back to her father who lives in Cuba.
In court Tuesday, Yoelvis Gattorno was established as the biological father of little Valeria. The infant was born in Miami to mother Yarisleidy Rodriguez, who tragically died during childbirth.
"He can take his daughter home today," said the attorney for the baby's father Aymee Rosquete.
Nairobis Pacheco says she was ready for today's outcome. Pacheco was Rodriguez's cousin and was granted temporary custody of Valeria after Rodriguez's death in March.
Rodriguez, a Cuban citizen, had just obtained a US visa through a lottery and planned to petition for her husband Gattorno to come to the US from Cuba.
But the 34-year-old passed away before the process was finalized.
Gattorno was granted a visa to travel to the US, prove he is Valeria's biological father, and fight to bring Valeria home. It was a court battle he successfully won when Pacheco withdrew her petition for custody.
"The judge found that he's the father and she's giving him custody of his daughter, as she should have," Rosquete said.
Gattorno wouldn't answer when asked if he would take the baby back to Cuba eventually.
Pacheco says she hopes that, if the government allows, they will stay here.
Gattorno will not be allowed to leave South Florida until doctors clear the baby medically.
The judge also decided the baby's 15-year-old sister, who lives in Miami-Dade but is not Gattorno's daughter, must be allowed to have visitation time with her half-sister.
