Rosie O'Donnell and estranged wife
Michelle Rounds are fighting for custody of their adopted daughter
Dakota.
O'Donnell, 52, and Rounds, 42, married
in New York in June of 2012 after a brief courtship. They split up
in November and announced that the marriage was over in February.
During the marriage, the women adopted
Dakota, 2. O'Donnell also has four older children from a previous
relationship.
“My client Michelle Rounds has
decided to start proceedings for sole custody of their daughter
Dakota,” Rounds' attorney William D. London told Page
Six, “since it is unequivocally in their child's best
interest and general welfare.”
Cindi Berger, O'Donnell's spokeswoman,
called the request “absurd” and a “desperate attempt to use a
child for her own gain.”
In comments to Entertainment
Tonight, Rounds said that she has her own money and would walk
away from a monetary settlement if O'Donnell agreed to give her full
custody.
“I just want my child to have the
best possible environment to grow up in, a normal life,” Rounds
said. “Right now, she's got 24/7 nannies over there at Rosie's
house. I don't want my child to have a 24/7 nanny.”