Matter of Guardianship of Murphy

LARSON, Justice.

Five-month-old Jeremy Lee Murphy was adjudged to be a child in need of assistance under Iowa Code chapter 232 (1985). The Iowa Department of Human Services was granted custody, and Jeremy was placed in *687a foster home. When one of the foster parents became too ill to care for him, he was placed with William and Edith Brass (Edith Brass is a half-sister of the child’s natural father.). Steven and Kimberly Shane filed a petition in Cerro Gordo District Court requesting that they be appointed as guardians (Kimberly Shane is a sister of the child’s natural mother.). A week later,…