e-mail
Putative Father Registries are a topic that seems to be popping up everywhere in the news. Sometimes the issues of these registries arises and lawsuits are centered around whether a father signed up timely or not.
In a case in Florida it appears that at the time a father’s paternity case was being held in one court, another court was terminating his rights because he did file soon enough with a putative registry. Hearings on this case just concluded in the Florida Supreme Court and the father won this battle at least. The comment below was made by one of the justices in this current case.
Justice Harry Lee Anstead asked if that meant an unmarried man who has sex with a woman should skip “smoking the classic cigarette” and instead immediately tell the Health Department: “I want the state to know that I’ve just had sexual intercourse.”
These registries appear to have sprung up to make adoptions easier and less problematic. Some fathers upon discovering that the mothers of their children were making adoption plans have stepped in and said that they wanted to parent. Apparently, in states with putative father registries, they must declare themselves fathers to have any legal status.
Fathers raising their children? Some fathers do resist the idea that their children should be raised by strangers, and are willing, eager and capable of raising their children. I am hard pressed to say that fathers who want to raise their children if a mother does not should not be allowed to do so. So, why do we make it so hard for them? Why should adoptive parents be favored to parent a child over its own biological father when and if the first mothers is unable or unwilling to parent?
Further Reading:
Putative Fathers – Statutes at a Glance.
National Directory of Putative Father Registries
Adoptions Involving Putative Fathers
Trends and Pitfalls in Adoption
Photo by Jan Baker 2007
It’s worth noting that in this particular case, paternity had not been established, and this man pursued the verdict on the hope that the child will prove to be his.
Great blog, Jan!
It just seems reasonable to allow the father the same option to parent as one should allow the mother.
Very interesting Jan.
In one of our adoptions paternity was not established. B-mom said she was not aware of who the father may be, but later when she did supply us with the possible man, but he refused to establish paternity.
I like your picture too. How did you do that?
Thanks Deb, just my photo shop program. It has many neat features.
Why should a man be punished and denied access to his child if the birth mother does not wish to parent. In NC the court says you should provide support and buy things for the woman and the baby even if the man does not know if he is the father or not. Men if you are interested in being a parent please support this lady through her pregnancy until you find out through DNA if the child is really yours. I hope this information helps someone out there. My son found out to late and has lost his rights to parent his son.