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Kelly Rutherford's Custody Request Denied, Vows to Still Fight With Appeal

Actress' international custody battle is far from over

By Ken Baker, Zach Johnson Dec 12, 2013 7:34 PMTags
 Kelly RutherfordAndrew H. Walker/Getty Images

Kelly Rutherford's international custody battle is far from over. E! News can exclusively confirm that a judge has ruled in favor of her ex-husband Daniel Giersch, who will maintain physical custody of son Hermés, 7, and daughter Helena, 4. The German businessman will no longer be required to transport their children from Monaco to the U.S. in order to visit their mother, who resides in New York City.

The former Gossip Girl star, who declared bankruptcy earlier this year, is planning an appeal the judge's decision and has been acting as her own attorney. "It strikes me as outrageous and unconstitutional that children can be effectively deported in order to accommodate their exiled father, with no proof of why he can't be in the U.S.," Rutherford tells E! News in an exclusive statement.

Giersch's American visa was revoked in August 2012, and four months later, a judge ruled that Hermés and Helena must live in Monaco with their father; Rutherford's schedule was deemed flexible enough to allow her to travel to and from the European principality. Giersch's eligibility to enter the United States and the well being of the former couple's children will be reevaluated in 2014.

Rutherford, 45, will soon travel to France to pick up her children and bring them back to New York City, where they will spend Christmas together. According to the TV star, she has flown back and forth 45 times since her custody battle with Giersch began in 2009. (The pair broke up in 2008 while Rutherford was pregnant with Helena.)

The single mom will attend a luncheon in Washington, D.C. for the National Organization for Women at the Ritz Carlton Hotel on Friday, Dec. 13. Rutherford will speak about her case at the event.