Child Abduction Cases on the Rise

June 13, 2009 — -- One father's quest to have his son returned from Brazil to the United States has opened up discussion about international custody battles and the lives they affect. There are some 2,000 cases and the number of new cases has increased nearly 70 percent in two years, according to the U.S. State Department.

Just this week, David Goldman reached one step closer to getting his son from Brazil, but this bruising legal battle is not over.

Brazil's Supreme Court refused an attempt by a Brazilian political party to keep 9-year-old Sean Goldman from returning to the United States to live with his biological father, David Goldman, in New Jersey.

However, the Brazilian stepfamily has filed an appeal, blocking the return for now. President Obama has discussed the case with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has pushed for the boy's return.

ABC News talked to David Goldman after he returned from Brazil after a visit with his son and asked him whether his son considers Brazil home.

"We don't really discuss that, because of the case and certain things that are on the record of what's being done to him," Goldman said. "But I can tell you that our moments are precious. We laugh, we play and I wish it could continue."

A custody battle like Goldman's is just one of a number of cases that the State Department says are on the rise.

Michelle Bond, the deputy assistant secretary for Overseas Citizens Services at the State Department, says that that surge in cases may be a result of more international couples.

"When those marriages founder there is a higher possibility that one parent might take the children," Bond says.

American Janet Greer lost her 3-year-old daughter, Dowsha, 12 years ago when her boyfriend took the child from Hawaii to Egypt. She had pleaded with a judge for sole custody when the unmarried couple split fearing her ex might flee. The judge refused. Her worst fear was realized when Dowsha never returned from a weekend visit with her father.