DELRAY BEACH, Fla. – A South Florida mother who ignored a court order and fled with her son to prevent his circumcision has given up her fight.
Heather Hironimus sat in a Delray Beach courtroom Friday as she signed a consent form allowing the procedure to be performed on the 4-year-old boy.
Hironimus, 31, disappeared with the boy in March after she ignored an order by Palm Beach County Judge Jeffrey Gillen to appear in court and consent to the procedure. Gillen issued a warrant for her arrest, and she was taken into custody May 15 in Deerfield Beach after nearly three months in hiding.
Court documents show that Hironimus and the boy's father, Dennis Nebus, had a son together on Oct. 31, 2010. Although they never married, the couple is considered the legal and biological parents of the boy.
Hironimus and Nebus agreed to a circumcision in a 2012 legal document, but Hironimus later changed her mind and fought to prevent the boy's circumcision. Circuit and appellate judges have sided with the father.
Prior to her arrest, Hironimus' attorney, Thomas Hunker, filed an injunction in federal court to prevent the circumcision. However, she dropped the lawsuit this week.
Hironimus, who is charged with interference of custody, reluctantly signed the consent form as a condition for her release from jail.
Her mother told Local 10 News that Hironimus had no choice.
"Any mother would do anything for their child," Mary Hironimus said.
Gillen also granted temporary parental rights to Nebus. An attorney for Nebus didn't comment on the decision.
"I am shocked that the judge still thinks that circumcising this boy is so desperately important that he needs to jail the mother indefinitely before it gets done," activist Tara Shipley, who is against the procedure, told Local 10 News. "That is outrageous to me."
Heather Hironimus remained in the main Palm Beach County jail late Friday afternoon.
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