Michal Kwadrans says he wakes up every morning wondering where his young son is and whether he’s safe.
It’s been more than 500 days since he last spoke with his four-year-old son Fabian and the boy’s mother, his now ex-wife Barbara.
The Brampton family had initially travelled to Poland together in March 2024. Kwadrans returned home after two weeks and his wife and son were expected to remain there for an extra week. However, more than five months later, Barbara and Fabian still weren’t back in Canada.
Kwadrans said he subsequently learned that his wife had filed for divorce and while contact was maintained for a period of time, he says he’s not been able to communicate with his son directly since a WhatsApp call on March 8, 2025. The last time he actually saw Fabian in person was November 2024.
Kwadrans says his ex-wife’s phone has also been disconnected.
“It’s not right that Fabian has to be in the middle of all of this,” he said during a recent interview with CP24.
Boy’s mom wanted on a Canada-wide warrant, Global Affairs assisting
A Canada-wide warrant has been issued by Peel Regional Police (PRP) for Barbara Kwadrans. She is wanted for abduction of a person under 14.
The investigation remains “open and ongoing,” a media officer told CP24.
Global Affairs Canada also confirmed to CP24 that it is “aware of the alleged parental abduction of a Canadian child in Poland” and is providing consular assistance.
“Child abductions are some of the most difficult consular situations that the Government of Canada responds to and are a profoundly difficult and damaging experiences for both the children and their families,” spokesperson Rachael Dolan wrote in an email to CP24.
“The Government of Canada works with partners in Canada and officials in other countries to inquire into the safety and well-being of abducted children and facilitate their return to Canada.”
Family frequently travelled to Poland
Kwadrans met his former spouse, who is originally from Poland, about 13 years ago. They got married in May 2014, setting up a home together in Brampton. Fabian was born on May 3, 2022.
The couple both hold dual citizenship and frequently travelled to Poland, more recently with their young son. Kwadrans said there had been some discussion of staying there for a longer period of time but no concrete plans had been made.
In March 2024, the family departed for another one of their trips to Poland.
Kwadrans said that he had expected Fabian and Barbara to return to Brampton one week after he flew home.
He said he was not overly worried when they missed their return flight as he continued to communicate daily with them.
By August, however, he wanted his wife and son to come home and returned to Poland for a week with the intention of bringing them back to Canada.
“Two days before my flight I learned that my wife had filed for divorce. I was 100 per cent blindsided,” he shared.
Court ordered child to return to Canada in March 2025
Kwadrans then retained a lawyer to help him navigate the divorce in Poland.
He also began the process of requesting a court order for the return of his son to Canada under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Poland is a signatory of this convention, which exists to help secure the timely return of children who have been wrongfully taken from their home country.
After an eight-week trial that fall, the tribunal sided with Kwadrans, leading a court in the city of Rzeszow to issue an order requiring Fabian’s return to Canada within 14 days, his lawyer Klaudia Stepniak told CP24.
The child’s mother appealed that order but her motion was ultimately dismissed by a higher court.
Fabian abducted by mom a second time
Fabian and his mother were expected to be back in Canada on March 13, 2025, but never showed up at the airport in Poland and they haven’t been heard from since.
Poland, it should be noted, does not currently have an extradition treaty with Canada.
“A second abduction occurred – the mother disappeared with the child,” Stepniak said.
Kwadrans has since finalized the divorced from his wife in Canada and has been awarded sole custody of Fabian, he said.
He subsequently filed a report in Poland against his ex-wife for parental abduction but that case was “suspended under the pretext of continuing the investigation” once the child’s whereabouts was determined, Stepniak said.
Kwadrans ultimately returned to Poland in July 2025 and hired a private investigator, who has been unsuccessful in locating his son. He went back again at the end of 2025 to continue searching for Fabian.
“Nobody knows where a four-year-old child is and no one is doing anything about it,” he said.
Regional court orders local police to find boy
On Aug. 11, there was some movement in Fabian’s case when the court in Rzeszow issued an order to the Lezajsk County Police Headquarters to determine the child’s whereabouts, Stepniak said.
“We will see if and what actions the police will take,” she said.
Kwadrans said he also tried filing a missing persons report for Fabian about a month ago with the Polish authorities but said he was told that they aren’t considering the boy’s disappearance as a safety concern and therefore nothing is being done to locate him.
Further, his lawyer said they’ve submitted a request for action to the Ombudsman for Children’s Rights in Poland “but so far it remains unanswered,” Stepaniak added.
“This case is being ignored by the prosecutor’s office because the perpetrator of the abduction was the child’s mother. It is irrelevant that the court ordered the child’s mother to return the child to Canada,” she charged.
“The case described above clearly demonstrates that it is quite possible to simply disappear from the system’s radar with a minor child, and state authorities are powerless to do anything about it. By going into hiding with the child, the mother has effectively deprived the other parent of the ability to exercise parental authority.”
CP24 has made several attempts to contact Barbara Kwadrans’ lawyer for comment but we have not heard back. We have also emailed her and her brother on a number of occasions for comment.
‘Very complicated cases’
About two years ago, Kwadrans met Layan Bishtawi at a support group for parents whose children have been abducted abroad by a parent.
In Bishtawi’s case, her former spouse illegally took their three kids to a non-Hague Convention country in the Middle East in 2017. A paralegal by trade who is studying to become a lawyer, she self-represented in the courts there resulting in the successful enforcement of a Canadian custody judgement. Her children were returned home two years later.
The Montreal resident now runs a not-for-profit organization called Shine a Lite Network that aims to support and advocate for “left-behind parents of internationally abducted children.”
For the past year, Bishtawi has been helping Kwadrans navigate the situation. She said she’s confident he’ll find his son and bring him home, eventually.
“These are very complicated cases. The battle is very brutal. … The saddest part is that the parent is the one left alone. It’s too much for one parent to handle,” Bishtawi said.
“This is not a question of mom or dad. We’re really talking about the child. … A child who is concealed is not living a normal life.”
Bishtawi said there is a “system gap,” as parents dealing with an abducted child abroad must navigate local laws and courts as well as cultural differences and approaches, even in countries that have signed the Hague Convention, mostly on their own to get court orders enforced.
“There’s a real lack of coordinated efforts. … We need more diplomatic intervention from Canada,” she said.
For his part, Kwadrans told CP24 that one of the hardest parts of the ordeal is the feeling of helplessness.
“It’s been unbelievable. I don’t wish this on any parent. It’s just been traumatic,” he shared.
“For every step forward, it’s two steps back. … I just want my son back. I have no idea where he is or if he’s OK.”
