I am not one to easily give out a compliment or to become awestruck by anyone.  However, when I met Maureen Dabbagh, the founder of the international child abduction recovery firm Dabbagh & Associates, I soon realized I was speaking to a remarkable, intelligent, compassionate protector of victimized children and their Chasing Parents. One who has had her own share of heartbreak and tragic setbacks. One who has courageously held onto these difficulties, not as a way to define who she is, but to define how she will act. And it is in the act of being able to recover children criminally abducted across international borders under the most bleak and dire of circumstances that Ms. Dabbagh and her very unique associates very well just might be the best friend a Chasing Parent and their kidnapped child or children just might ever have.

Personally, having had to tackle the nightmarish odyssey of having my own child abducted and having to act in multiple jurisdictions, I have come across all walks of individuals who have thrown their hat in the arena of attempting to assist in the recovery of stolen and abused children. From the State Department, to the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children, and all the way down to some back-alley knuckle crunchers.  Of course some of these contacts took place during my own successful recovery efforts, while others occurred during the ongoing research my production team and I have conducted as we gather information for the documentary we are making on international parental child abduction.

Of everyone I have met over the past three years, there is one person in the private sector outside of my own team of friends who assisted me in my own recovery that stands head and shoulders above everyone else. And that person is Maureen Dabbagh (and her associates are pretty spectacular, too). For those of you who do not know of Maureen, let me share a few things. First, Maureen is also a Chasing Parent who was left behind in the wake of her young daughter Nadia's abduction to the Middle East, where, tragically, Nadia was murdered. Maureen is a dedicated advocate who has worked tirelessly on hundreds of abduction cases since her own daughter's abduction, trying to help both children and parent in any way she can. If I ever needed an expert in the courtroom, or ever needed a team out in the field under the most precarious of circumstances while attempting to locate and bring home my child, Maureen would be one of my very first phone calls. After all, she has participated in the safe recovery of over fifty children who were kidnapped and taken overseas. For those of us who have had to become familiar with this world, this number (which actually is larger), is incredible. After all, one recovery is an amazing accomplishment.

What impressed me the most about Ms. Dabbagh as well as some of the incredible individuals that I met on her team, is the fact that they are incredibly knowledgeable on all things regarding international child abduction. They know what works and when it will work, as well as what does not work and why certain perceived solutions will not work. They have not only studied the legal models that deal with abduction in courtrooms across the globe, but have participated and implemented conflict resolution programs that really can and will work. And that - creating solutions that can and will be upheld is what is most impressive about Ms. Dabbagh's collective process. If you're a Chasing Parent just beginning your journey, you can ask any of us who have gone through this before - the legal process after your child is ordered home can only become more difficult as the appeal process just gets underway. And as you may know - part of the abducting parent's legal strategy is to financially cripple you so that you will walk away. 

Part of what I feel is my responsibility as a successful Chasing Parent who is living and loving every breathing moment with my child safely home is to provide vetted names and resources of individuals and organizations that can help other parents attempting to try to protect their own children.  I do believe fully in The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Parental Child Abduction. I also believe in conflict resolution mediation. But most of all, I believe in bringing home your child safely.

For more information on Maureen Dabbagh, contact Dabbagh & Associates or Parent International.  A conversation with Ms. Dabbagh certainly is time well-spent.