What are Birth Father Rights Regarding Child Adoption?
In all states, the biological birth mother AND the biological birth father have rights regarding their baby. Even if the birth father is no longer involved with the birth mother and even if his name is not on the birth certificate.
Since both birth parents have legal rights, there is no adoption situation where the rights of the biological birth father can be ignored. The laws of the state in which the the birth parents reside determine their rights.
Rights of the Birth Father
If the biological father wants to be involved in the adoption, he can take part in the important adoption related choices along with the birth mother, including the type of child adoption, such as open or closed child adoption or an agency or private child adoption.
Every U.S. state and territory has laws that explain how a birth mother and birth father can end their parental rights. This process may be called termination, surrender, or relinquishment. Each state has strict rules that must be followed before this decision becomes final.
ChildAdoptionLaws.com will help you regarding the laws of all states. Look under the heading of termination, surrender or relinquishment of parental rights.
What about the Legal, Biological or Putative Father Rights?
The legal father of a child is the man a woman is married to even if she has been separated from him.
A putative father, also called the alleged father, is the biological father of a child born out-of-wedlock. The legal father, biological father, or putative father all have rights which must be addressed. Take a look at the article entitled The Rights of Presumed (Putative) Fathers.
What about the Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights?
Birth parents who wish to place their child for adoption can voluntarily relinquish their rights or, in some cases, the court may involuntarily end their parental rights. Your adoption agency can assist you with information about the voluntary and involuntary ending of your parental rights. For details, contact your adoption agency and/or read thearticle entitled Grounds for the Involuntary termination of Parental Rights.
When addressing whether parental rights should be terminated involuntarily, most States require that a court:
- Determine a parent to be unfit through one or more grounds for termination of the parental relationship
- Determine whether severing the parent-child relationship will be in the child’s best interest
- A felony conviction of the parent(s) for a crime of violence against the child or another family member, or a conviction for any felony when the term of incarceration is such a length of time as to have a negative impact on the child
- Severe or chronic abuse or neglect
- Abuse or neglect of other children in the household
- Abandonment
- Long-term mental illness or deficiency of the parent(s)
- Long-term alcohol- or drug- Induced incapacity of the parent(s)
- Failure to support or maintain contact with the child
- A child has been in foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months
- A child to be an abandoned infant
- Involuntary termination of rights of the parent to another child
What are the Birth Mother’s Rights?
For information about Birth Mother Rights click on this link.
What if you Need Help?
For more information about the rights of the legal, biological or putative father’s rights, please contact us at Adoption Services so that we can help you. Please visit the link “Ways we can help you”.
Can your Agency Help a Birth Parent Living in Any State?
We are licensed in multiple states and are able to help a birth mother, birth father, and adopting family living in any of the 50 U.S. states and even U.S. citizens (birth parents and families) that are living in other countries.