Parental Rights of Unwed Fathers

[livius drusus]

Check out this NYT article on parental rights of bio fathers in adoption cases. I was surprised to read that in many states if a man wishes to claim his parental rights he must have put his name on a "don't take my parental rights" registry. That seems a highly problematic system to me.

From the article

While women have the right to get an abortion, or to have and raise a child, without informing the father, courts have increasingly found that when birth mothers choose adoption, fathers who have shown a desire for involvement have rights, too.

But to claim those rights most states require a father to put his name on a registry. While about 30 states now have registries, they vary widely. In some, fathers must actually claim paternity; in others, just the possibility of paternity. The deadlines may be 5 days after birth or 30, or any time before an adoption petition is filed.

[...]

In many states, fewer than 100 men register each year — not surprising, adoption experts say, because most young men have never heard of the registries. One exception is Indiana, where men are notified of the registry when a birth mother names them as the father, and 50 men register a week.

[...]

Even for registered men, the system is flawed. Because the registries are state by state, a registration means nothing if the father or mother has moved — or if the baby was surrendered for adoption in a different state specifically to avoid a challenge.

So unless a man registers whenever and wherever he has sex (assuming that's an option in his state), there's no way he can ensure that any child born from said sex act won't be given up for adoption against his wishes.

I'm curious to see Sen. Landrieu's proposed legislation which would create a a national registry and at least introduce some flexibility into the system.