KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The mother of a child caught in the middle of a custody battle says she doesn't understand the reason for the delay.

Penny, who didn't want her last name used, is the mother of baby Max, her seventh child. Penny admits she has abused drugs, and she said she wanted her baby to be raised by her cousin, Gary Stocklaufer and his wife.

"Right now, I'm having financial problems. I ain't got a job. I'm not working," Penny told KMBC's Jim Flink.

Penny, who lives in Dallas, Texas, signed legal paperwork to let Stocklaufer adopt Max.

But a judge in Jackson County Family Court said Stocklaufer wasn't fit to be a father, even though he has another adopted child and he has a full-time job. Stocklaufer said he believes it's because he is overweight.

"What does weight have to do with being a parent?" Penny said.

Last month, Stocklaufer underwent gastric bypass surgery to reduce his weight. The same day, the court denied a second hearing in the case, ending the chance that the family would see Max again.

Both Penny and Stocklaufer said it was legal kidnapping.

"They had no right to take him. Those papers were signed -- it was supposed to be legal," Penny said.

"Did you think you'd have contact with Max?" Flink asked.

"Yes," Penny said. "(I thought) I 'd get to talk with them every once in a while -- share pictures, talk on the phone."

Meanwhile, Stocklaufer said he will continue to fight for Max.

"We're financially broke, but I want everyone to know if it takes selling the shirt off my back, I will do whatever it takes -- I will get my son," Stocklaufer said.

A representative with family court declined to comment on the case out of privacy concerns.