Can a woman put a child up for adoption without the fathers permission?

Tri-Harder

The only way to legally put a child up for adoption without the father's consent is to have his rights terminated. That requires a legal process. Even if you don't know for sure who the father is, you need to make a Good Faith Effort to try to narrow it down. You can't just put "Father Unknown" and not make any attempt to contact anyone. Failure to do so makes the adoption legally invalid, and the father can negate it even years later and take his child. The mother can also be charged with fraud.

LizB

Yes, but it's harder today than it used to be. Used to be the woman could just claim she "didn't know" who the father was and that was that, but these days fathers have equal rights, though how well those rights are protected varies from state to state. If a man knows he made a woman pregnant or suspects he made a woman pregnant, one of the best things he can do to protect is rights is get on the putative father registry in his state. It's important to note that lying about who the child's father is (either to the adoption coordinators or to the father himself) is a serious legal risk, because if the father does not give legal consent and the adoption happens anyway, he can potentially challenge the adoption even if it has been completed and the adoptive couple has already invested thousands upon thousands of dollars. There have been some incredibly ugly court battles of biological fathers trying to win back custody of children they didn't consent to being adopted, and some have gone on for YEARS. So unless the woman truly has no idea who the father is OR she fears violent retaliation if he finds out she's pregnant (in which case she needs to work with the authorities), it is always better to get the father's consent.

Anonymous

To the point, yes,

Rosalie

Yes, if the father is "unknown". Unless and until the father is legally identified- meaning the mother was not married at the time, and the paternity of the child has not been established in court- the mother would remain the only legal parent. Adoptions have been undone much later, when men have found out a child had been conceived. DNA doesn't lie, and merely failing to notify a father does not mean an adoption is final. There have been some very famous cases where children were torn from the only (adoptive) parents they had ever known, and given back to their fathers. If you are thinking of putting up a child for adoption, PLEASE, get the father to sign away his parental rights in the process, to avoid subjecting your child to this. It's heartbreaking, even if it's legally right. If you think you have fathered a child, you can go to court and file a petition for paternity, but only after the baby is born. You will be ordered to take a DNA test that you pay for, and she will be ordered to make the baby available to be cheek swabbed for comparison. If they match, you would be given the chance for joint custody as you are equally a parent, as well as being assigned child support payments until the child turned 18 (or later), or you signed away your parental rights and allowed someone else to adopt the child. If she is in fact pregnant and choose to terminate the pregnancy, you have no say in the matter. Unless and until she delivers a child, it is her body, and her business. You have some stuff to discuss, clearly. respect her choice.

Pearl L

i dont think so