Father Gets A Photo Of `Baby Richard’

After nearly four years trying to get custody of his son, Otakar Kirchner got his first glimpse of the boy known as Baby Richard - in photographs.

Looking at 14 photos of the child strengthened Kirchner’s resolve to make the boy’s transition away from his adoptive parents as painless as possible, his lawyer said Saturday.

“He’ll bend over backwards to make it a very slow, gradual transition,” said lawyer Loren Heinemann. “Otakar said two, three, five years. He doesn’t care how long it takes.”

The adoptive parents, known in court papers only as John and Jane Doe, gave Heinemann the photos Friday.

The boy, nearly 4 years old, was given up for adoption when he was a newborn, before his mother married Kirchner.