Foster mom says she would adopt baby left in Wheaton yard

If Nunu Sung isn’t fit to raise the baby she left in a Wheaton yard, the boy’s foster mother says she would adopt him “in a heartbeat.”

The foster mom testified Tuesday as the state wrapped up its case against Sung, 27, whose parental fitness is being challenged.

Sung left the newborn under a bush near her cousin’s home in June 2009 and is now fighting to be reunited.

On Tuesday, a state-appointed foster mother from Wheaton testified that she had no opinion on whether Sung is fit to be a parent but said she would gladly raise the child if a court decides Sung is unable.

“I would adopt him in a heartbeat,” she said.

The woman is not being identified because she is considered a “protected party” in juvenile court proceedings.

According to her testimony, Sung was “emotional” and “tearful” at the first of several supervised weekly visits with the child.

The woman said she had some “concerns” about Sung’s parenting abilities, but for the most part the child appeared safe.

“I recall one instance when he was very little, probably 2 months old. He was very strong physically and he could hold himself up on his legs. (Sung) sat him down on the floor as if he could stand. I ran across the room to catch him. That was concerning because he could have fallen on his head,” the foster mother said.

The woman said Sung also gave the child a mouthful of crackers once and he began coughing. On another occasion, the boy’s first birthday, the woman worried when Sung put him at eye level with a candle to photograph him with a birthday cake.

“I knelt near him and held his hand,” the woman said.

She said there were “many occasions” when the boy was upset and Sung grew frustrated, though she tried to comfort him.

But several times, she said, Sung “turned and ran from him … and buried her face and cried.”

“I do recall times when he was older when (Sung) was able to calm him down,” she said.

The woman said she tried to help Sung become a better parent because she believed Sung would eventually be reunited with the child.

“I wanted to do whatever I could to help her be the best parent she could be to a little boy I loved,” she said.

Sung, a Burmese refugee, pleaded guilty to obstructing justice in connection with the case and is due to be paroled from prison later this month.

Her attorneys are expected to open their case when her parental rights trial resumes Wednesday before DuPage County Judge Robert Anderson.