Unwed Fathers Receive Rights to Infant Children
By Jeffery M. Leving
Unwed biological fathers are often told they have no rights when it comes to their infant
children when placed for adoption. The fact they fathered their child is not considered
important when the mother decides, on her own, to give the infant child up for adoption
in certain circumstances.
But, this gender disparity in equal protection and due process in parental rights is
changing.
Recently, the State of Utah adopted House Bill 308 that is designed to safeguard unwed
paternal rights in regards to children six months or younger from being adopted. This law
would require unwed fathers to be issued official notification of the mother’s intention to
give their infant child up for adoption in certain circumstances. Once received, the father
would then have 30 days to assert his rights as a parent and petition the court for custody.
This closes a loophole which had allowed mothers to circumvent notifying the biological
father and thus committing the ultimate act of parental alienation – terminating the fatherchild
relationship forever.
Common sense and fair play would argue that if an unwed mother decides to give up her
rights to a child, then the biological father would automatically be given the opportunity
to take custody of his child. Instead, a stranger can be given the right to adopt the child,
often without the father even knowing he will never see his child again.
All too often these points are treated unreasonably in many states because too many
jurisdictions have rejected the rights of fathers regarding infant children born outside of
marriage.
The mother, it is aggressively argued, bears the burden of child birth and therefore should
be the sole parent overseeing the child’s well-being and future relationship with the birth
father. This not only doesn’t make sense, but can strip children of someone who has a
natural biological drive to protect them – their own father.
Utah isn’t the only state that has begun to tear down these antiquated attitudes against
biological fathers.
Recently, a legislative initiative evolved in the State of Michigan to adopt a similar law
involving putative fathers. This House Bill (HB 4067), which, among other things, would
allow biological fathers the right to seek to establish paternity even if the child’s mother
was married to another man between the time the child was conceived and born.
The new Michigan legislation would provide a detailed mechanism to establish paternity
for a biological father as previous statues automatically granted paternity to the marital
father.
Again, common sense would dictate that the biological father, the one who conceived the
child with the mother, would have rights to establish paternity and custody, but this is not
always the case. Existing laws in many states not only ignore the rights of the father, but
ignore the rights of the child. Who better to enjoy the legal right to defend a child’s
health, education, and welfare than their biological, natural father when mom walks
away?
The rights of fathers should be balanced against the rights of mothers when it comes to
safeguarding the well-being of their children. Equal protection and due process should
exist in every state regardless of gender and marital status. Unwed fathers should not be
wrongfully excluded from making decisions that are necessary in raising their children,
including education, religious training, and health care. This is critical in this nation
where approximately 33.1% of children are born out of wedlock.
However, if there is a child placement disagreement, the child’s future is too often
decided based on parental gender and marital status.
Unwed fathers’ rights legislation will hopefully be enacted into law in both Utah and also
in Michigan and spread throughout the nation. These are steps in the right direction to
correct this unfair imbalance. Constitutional rights must apply to unwed fathers and their
children too.
Jeffery M. Leving is the author of Fathers’ Rights and Divorce Wars, as well as the soon
to be released How to Be a Good Divorced Dad, which garnered praise from President
Barack Obama and an endorsement from Francis Cardinal George of the Archdiocese of
Chicago. He also co-authored the Illinois Joint Custody Law and is the founder of
http://dadsrights.com. Leving is a dedicated matrimonial attorney focusing on what is
best for the children – a relationship with both parents.
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