The tug-of-love between two adoptive gay dads that turned ugly when one grabbed their toddler and fled to Israel ended yesterday when the boy was reunited with his legal guardian.
Israeli police found 23-month-old Jedidiah Hyett-Glazer in Jerusalem and returned him to his legal father, Josh Glazer, of Manhattan.
“It’s the most wonderful feeling in the world to have him back,” Glazer said by phone from Israel. “I was really so happy to see he was OK and well. He was a little dirty and hadn’t been bathed, but none of that mattered.
“Gut-wrenching is how I would describe it.”
Glazer said his son yelled, “Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!” when they were reunited and was “kissing me and everybody.”
Glazer’s ex-partner, Eric Hyett, was not immediately arrested. Authorities in Israel were still mulling whether to take him into custody and return him to New York to face charges of custodial interference, said Glazer’s lawyer, Sam Ferrara.
Hyett, 37, was legally married to Glazer, 29, in Massachusetts in May 2004. Jed was born to a surrogate mother in California and legally adopted by the couple. They have been waging a bitter, yearlong custody battle for him.
Hyett had the little boy for the weekend of Aug. 2 for a routine visit, and was supposed to return him to Glazer on Aug. 4. Instead, he whisked the kid away to Israel.
Glazer hired private investigator Daniel Ribicoff, who dispatched detectives to locate Hyett and the boy.