Kelly Rutherford's ongoing custody battle has gotten more complicated than a storyline from the actress' former CW show, Gossip Girl. Four years after she filed for divorce from ex-husband Daniel Giersch, the star is still fighting to gain primary physical custody of the couple's two kids, 5-year-old Hermes and 3-year-old Helena.
(In August 2012, a judge ruled that the children should live with German businessman Giersch in Monaco, France, where he moved after being barred from the U.S. due to a revoked visa. Rutherford, the judge reasoned, has a flexible schedule and can travel to and from Monaco to visit.)
Us Weekly caught up with the mom-of-two at the Wednesday, May 8, opening of the NYDJ shop at Bloomingdale's in New York City, where she talked about her struggle to get her kids back to the States. "I'm just looking forward to them coming home at some point soon," she told Us. "They're U.S. citizens who were sent to a foreign country that neither their father nor I have any connection to. I think the whole thing is bizarre."
The 44-year-old actress, who recently revealed to E! News that the custody fight had brought her to "the brink of bankruptcy," added that she hoped there was an end in sight, not just for her sake but also for her kids' sake. "I think it's hard on them," she told Us. "And certainly as a mother it's hard to watch them go through this. It's just silly."
At least one good thing has come out of the legal saga, though — Rutherford's newfound passion for helping other mothers deal with their own custodial issues. The Gossip Girl star has apparently taken an interest in family law; she was scheduled to go to Washington, D.C., to speak about the issue this week, but an "emergency situation" regarding her court case kept her in New York.
"You shouldn't be able to go to court and be litigated against in that way over your children," she told Us of why she wants to get involved. "There needs to be some reform, that's all. They just need to change a few laws and get things straight again and on the right track."
In the meantime, Rutherford will continue to fight for her kids. And though she still has quite a battle ahead of her, she can at least look forward to them visiting the city this summer.
"I think the kids are coming here," she said. "I'm beside myself."
Asked what she plans to do with them when they arrive, she revealed that they'd probably split their time between the Hamptons and Manhattan. "They like to do everything," she said. "They like to go for ice cream, they love the park, they love to be outdoors. They love FAO Schwarz."
