Matter of Romero

This case involves a guardian’s petition seeking a court order authorizing sterilization of her ward, an incapacitated adult woman. After an evidentiary hearing, the Delta County District Court issued the sterilization order. We reverse the district court’s order.

I

LaVista Romero is a thirty-seven year old woman, who is the mother of two children. When Ms. Romero was thirty-three years old, she suffered oxygen deprivation from complications associated with diabetes, and brain damage resulted. On October 8, 1985, Shirley J. Harvey, Ms. Romero’s mother, petitioned the Delta County District Court…