Andrew H. Walker/Getty ImagesKelly Rutherford—and her friends—will not stop fighting for her kids.
In August, a judge ruled that the Gossip Girl star's two children, Hermes, 5, and Helena, 3, would relocate to Monaco to live with her estranged ex-husband, Daniel Giersch, and now E! News has learned that Rutherford's good pal Caroline Fina has begun a petition online calling on California lawmakers to bring the actress's little ones home to the United States.
"I want you to know that Kelly is not your average mother," Fina wrote. "She is the mom who sews the Spider-Man mask back together when it rips, the mom who has lollipops in her purse at all times just in case she comes across a child crying, at school, at the airport, anywhere."
Caroline continues, "She is the mom who will eat the crazy-looking birthday cake her kids made for her, just because it's made of love. Kelly is a caring and generous friend, and most importantly, a truly exceptional mother. To see her now, separated from Hermes and Helena, enduring the worst possible agony a mother can experience, pushes me to reach out for help."
Rutherford's bitter custody battle began in 2009. The judge made his ruling based on the idea that it was in the children's best interest to live abroad with Giersch in Monaco until his visa is restored, giving them both the opportunity to coparent their children since they share custody of them.
"I'm all for 50/50 and all for children having a mother and father and coparenting…it's just that the way it's set up now…I'm a working mother," the celeb told Good Morning America in September.
"I've been the sole supporter of my children for their entire life and I have a job. I'm going to do my best to be there obviously every chance I get, but I can't just be there on a regular basis when I have to work. I just can't pick up and go, you know, that easily."
But Rutherford added, "I will never stop fighting for my children."