Adoption vs Abortion

Forums: Relationships, Abortion, Adoption
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We are in Texas and my 18 year old daughter is pregnant out of wedlock. She has found a loving family that wants to adopt but the birth father won't sign over his rights, yet he doesn't want to parent himself and my daughter is forced to parent. Someone needs to review the laws, because she would not have to have the birth father's permission to abort (which she would never consider), but she cannot place the child for adoption without his consent. Somebody please help me to understand this.

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@Confusedgrandfather,

You need a good family lawyer. What does the sperm donor want to happen? Does the he know how much in child support he will be forced to pay? He might sign the papers if he knew he was going to have to be a financial parent, even if he is not an involved parent. I think most judges will side with your daughter.

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It really doesn't seem right does it?I agree than pretty much any judge would side with your daughter, and the fact that he is unwilling to help parent his own child, makes me feel as though he would be unwilling to pay any amount of childs support, in which case he will pretty much be forced to go along with your daughters wishes. What is his reason for feeling the way he does?

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@Confusedgrandfather,

Confusedgrandfather wrote:

We are in Texas and my 18 year old daughter is pregnant out of wedlock. She has found a loving family that wants to adopt but the birth father won't sign over his rights, yet he doesn't want to parent himself and my daughter is forced to parent. Someone needs to review the laws, because she would not have to have the birth father's permission to abort (which she would never consider), but she cannot place the child for adoption without his consent. Somebody please help me to understand this.

The biological father cannot lawfully exercise any dominion or control over your daughter's womb. It is her decision whether to bear a child.

However, once a child is born, the biological father's rights and duties are equal to the biological mother's rights and duties so long as the biological father takes affirmative steps to establish his paternity. No one is forcing your daughter to be a parent against her will. If your daughter does not want to parent the child, she may sign away her rights and surrender the child for adoption. (I don't know whether the State of Texas allows private adoptions through private attorneys or whether the child must be surrendered to a state approved adoption agency.)

If the biological father makes no effort to establish paternity, to support the child, and to bring a court action to obtain custody of the child within the time established by state law, then he has forfeited his rights and his consent to adopt is unnecessary. When the adoptive parents move the court to finalize the adoption, the biological father's parental rights will be terminated.

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Here's a guide to Texas Adoption Law:

http://www.weblocator.com/attorney/tx/law/c08.html

Quote:

Before an adoption of a child can commence, the child's birth parents must voluntarily give up their parental rights by signing a document relinquishing all legal rights with regard to the child. Another way parental rights are terminated is involuntarily: the parents are declared unfit by a court of law. For example, a court may find that a parent has abandoned the child, severely abused the child, or has shown such little interest in caring for the child that he or she is not competent to be a parent. Usually, when birth parents relinquish their right to raise a child, however, they do so consensually. The right to care for the child and make decisions on his or her behalf may be given over to an adoption agency, discussed below, prior to the child's placement with his or her adoptive parents.

Here's a link to a Texas court case that discusses the procedure for terminating the biological father's parental rights:

In the Interest of DMF

This case establishes that the biological father must know about the pregnancy and fail to support the mother during the pregnancy in order to establish one possible ground for terminating his parental rights.

There is a lot of information available on the internet. Plus, you should consult with the attorney and/or agency that has been lined up to facilitate the adoption.

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@Confusedgrandfather,

I am a birthmother who was kind of in this predicament 9 years ago..In my situation,the father of my child wanted nothing to do with raising her,but wouldnt sign over his rights either. The finalization of the adoption took a little longer than usual,but the courts ruled in my favor because he obviously wanted no part of anything.This was after they made several attempts to contact him and ask him to show up in court,which he never did.So,more than likely, the courts will go through with your daughters decision to place a baby with a loving family,without the consent of the father.

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@katiewebb83,

katiewebb, welcome to A2k.

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@Confusedgrandfather,

Shame you don't have a son. And his girl friend wants to give his child away. Your right about one thing if she decided to raise her child then he would have to pay and deal with your daughter. Laws need to change. If the woman doesn't want her child then fine give the child to the father and let her pay child support. I think she should have to pay to the couple who adopt the child why should she be the one to walk away and leave the child thinking she wasn't good enough to raise. Remember what comes around goes around

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@Confusedgrandfather,

Yea this is pretty stupid, the law I mean. She should have the right to put the baby up for adoption if the father does not want to be a father. There are always people waiting to adopt.

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Adoption vs Abortion

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