RIO DE JANEIRO , Brazil ( CNN ) -- A Brazilian supreme court judge on Tuesday suspended a lower court 's order that would have given custody of a 9-year-old boy to the U.S. Consulate in Rio de Janeiro , where he was to be reunited with his American father . David Goldman has been fighting for custody of his son , Sean , since the boy 's mother took him to Brazil in 2004 . Judge Marco Aurelio argued against taking Sean Richard Goldman from what has been his home for almost five years to the United States `` in an abrupt manner . '' Doing so , he wrote in his order published on the court 's Web site , could subject the boy to psychological harm . The decision , which means the entire Brazilian supreme court will take up the case , comes a day after a superior court justice ordered Sean taken Wednesday to the U.S. Consulate in Rio and handed over to his father , David Goldman , who arrived Tuesday from New Jersey to pick up his son . The two were separated in June 2004 when the boy 's Brazilian mother , Bruna Bianchi Carneiro Ribeiro , told Goldman -- to whom she was then married -- that she was taking the boy on a two-week vacation to Brazil . Watch Goldman describe his fight to get his son back » . Mother and son never returned . Instead , Bianchi stayed in Brazil , where she divorced Goldman and married a Brazilian lawyer . But in September , Bianchi 's death during childbirth led Goldman to renew his efforts to regain custody of their son . Sean , who has been living with his half-sister and his stepfather , was to have spent a 30-day adaptation period in the United States before his father gained full custody . That prospect sparked outrage from an attorney representing the boy 's Brazilian relatives . `` The child was n't heard , '' lawyer Sergio Tostes said . `` The child said many times that he wanted to stay in Brazil . This is not human , and it is a cruelty . '' The case has attracted high-level attention . U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton referred to the case Monday , telling reporters , `` I also wanted just to take this opportunity to recognize the decision by the Brazilian federal court today ordering a young American boy , Sean Goldman , to be reunited with his father , David . It 's taken a long time for this day to come , but we will work with the Goldman family and the Brazilian government , with the goal of ensuring this young boy 's return . '' David Goldman 's attorney , Patricia Apy , did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment . CNN 's Rob Frehse and Alessandra Castelli contributed to this report .
Brazilian supreme court judge suspends lower court 's order . Lower court had the son taken to stay at Brazilian Consulate in Rio de Janeiro . Boy 's parents divorced after Mom moved with son to Brazil in 2004 . Mom died in childbirth in 2005 , leaving boy with father .