Adoption News
Legal Notes:
Idaho Adoption/Termination Law remains fundamentally unchanged in 2011:
Of considerable debate is whether Idaho’s adoption laws should be amended to provide greater protections to unmarried birthfathers. House Bill 499 was introduced last year in the Idaho Legislature to provide greater notice and due process requirements to unmarried biological fathers. Anne Solomon, an attorney in Couer d'Alene, Idaho gave testimony regarding the importance of protection and preservation of biological families in support of the Bill. However, many family law practitioners indicated problems with the bill including ambiguities in the proposed statutory language. In addition, the direction the bill takes represents a fundamental change to the concept that unwed biological fathers who don't "step up to the fatherhood plate" do not have parental rights-- rather, parental rights of unmarried biological fathers are inchoate, and can only be perfected by precisely following the statutory steps showing their commitment to the child's welfare.
My View:
Currently, many unmarried birthfathers are under the mistaken belief that they cannot have their parental rights terminated absent actual notice and an opportunity to object. Occasionally, an injustice may occur where a responsible putative father may have every intention of being a fully engaged father—both emotionally and financially-- however, more often than not, a duty of providing actual notice to the biological father would provide a mechanism of power and control by the birthfather over the birthmother. In my experience, most birthmothers facing difficult choices need to know they can chose adoption without a significant likelihood of the birthfather upsetting their plan. A birthmother is not only considering what is in her interests, but also those of the child—she’s truly responsible for two lives. She has already made the courageous decision to have the child and not simply abort. She knows that most of her friends would not have the strength of character to endure 40 weeks of pregnancy, hear the child’s heartbeat, feel the child’s movements, and then voluntarily give the child to another couple. A birthfather armed with the ultimate veto power allowing him to stop the adoption process in its tracks would significantly limit the unwed mother's ability to secure a suitable family for the child. Adoptions take time and cost money. Prospective adoptive parents make substantial emotional and financial investment knowing that there is always the risk a birthmother changing her mind after the birth— to add additional stress for the unwed mother and adoptive family regarding the potential claims of the birthfather and delays in the judicial process, by an uninterested and /or spitefully motivated birthfather, is ordinarily not justified. If unwed birthfathers were to be given such power, in many cases, after the dust settles, I foresee a circumstance where the birthmother would abandon her adoption plan, the birthfather would remain uninterested in the child’s welfare, and the State of Idaho would be picking up the child’s social and financial tab trough it’s Department of Health and Welfare.
The Idaho Supreme Court recently and thoroughly reviewed the status of unwed biological father's rights in the case of In the Interest of Jane Doe, A Minor Child Under Eighteen Years of Age; Idaho Department of Health and Welfare v. John Doe, 2010 Opinion 127, Filed November 30, 2010.
Of Interest:
Did you know that 1 out of every 3 teenagers will be pregnant before they reach their 20th birthday? For detailed information regarding teen pregnancy, please visit:
http://www.idahoteenpregnancy.com
Legal Specialties
