Ukrainian Court Awards Custody of 14-Year-Old to Guardian Without Terminating Mother’s Rights

A high-profile court decision took place in Ukraine, according to which the 14-year-old daughter of the country’s oldest mother, Valentyna Pidverbna, Anna, was taken away without terminating parental rights. This decision was made by the Novozavodskyi District Court of Chernihiv on May 20, 2025. The girl will remain under the guardianship of Olena Yatchenko until she turns 18.

Olena Yatchenko became Anna’s guardian in the spring of 2024. In February 2025, when the girl turned 14, Yatchenko filed a lawsuit to extend her guardianship over the child.

Valentyna Pidverbna’s lawyer, Ihor Savytskyi, noted that they are still considering the possibility of filing an appeal against the court’s decision to remove the child.

Details of Valentyna Pidverbna’s Case

Valentyna Pidverbna became a mother at the age of 65 through artificial insemination. For 12 years, Anna lived with her mother until April 2023, when posts appeared on social media in which the girl spoke about physical and psychological abuse by her mother. The girl claimed that her mother beat her, bullied her, forbade her from bathing, and even tried to drive her to suicide.

On April 5, 2023, the executive committee of the Chernihiv City Council decided to remove the child from her mother and place her in a hospital. A month later, Anna was transferred to the social and psychological rehabilitation center for children in the village of Khmilnytsia.

On October 20, 2023, the court ruled on the temporary removal of the child from Valentyna Pidverbna until she turned 14, without terminating the woman’s parental rights. In December 2023, Pidverbna appealed this decision, but on February 21, 2024, the Chernihiv Court of Appeal upheld it.

Since then, Anna has changed schools, started playing the flute, and blocked her mother’s number on her phone due to her late-night calls. This was shared by the girl’s guardian in one of the interviews.

The court also considered other cases involving Valentyna Pidverbna related to neglect of parental duties and domestic violence. Both cases were closed. Earlier, in March 2023, the court closed another administrative case regarding Pidverbna’s failure to fulfill child-rearing responsibilities.