Adoption Without the Biological Father's Consent

**LeahSantini** · 04-05-2012, 01:31 PM

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Ohio
A friend of mine was told by an exgirlfriend that she was pregnant and gave the baby up for adoption. The baby is now 7 months old and he just found out yesterday, and as soon as he heard that he may have a child, he wants her but isn't sure if there is anything he can do. I was looking on this and a few other sites and was i believe what she did is illegal from what i read. Not notifying him at all, until the baby is 7 months old. I also read somewhere online that he can get the baby, i would like to know if he can get her, he will have everything for the baby, he doesn't know where to even begin to start. Any advice is appreciated, and I want to help him.
Thank you.

**Mr. Knowitall** · 04-05-2012, 01:40 PM

Was the child adopted or not?

Did dad add his name to the state's putative father's registry or not?

**LeahSantini** · 04-05-2012, 02:53 PM

We don't know how to find out if the baby was given up or if there is a child at all, and no we don't know anything about "putative father" we just found out today about the baby.

**Mr. Knowitall** · 04-05-2012, 02:57 PM

If the putative father wants to do anything, it would make sense to start by figuring out if there actually was a baby. Once he knows that much, let us know.

**LeahSantini** · 04-05-2012, 03:12 PM

his ex says there is a baby, but she isn't one that can be trusted. She is a twisted human being and I would not doubt that she is making this all up just to get attention from my friend.... and he is set on that if he can just find out if there is or isn't, he wants the baby if the baby exist. How do we find out?

**PQN** · 04-11-2012, 08:50 AM

Have him file in court for paternity.

**aardvarc** · 04-11-2012, 11:44 AM

And tell him to keep in touch with women he sleeps with for a while. That way he'll KNOW if he has gotten someone pregnant or not. Sperm isn't really "fire and forget", rather, it's often "fire and, by the way, you are the father of a X year old". It's not her job to keep him informed, if he's going to float genetic material out there, he needs to keep track of it, lest he face surprises.

**Dogmatique** · 04-11-2012, 11:56 AM

Quoting PQN

Have him file in court for paternity.

He may no longer have standing. The trouble with states with putative father registries is that as a general rule, if a man doesn't register within a certain time frame, neither his consent nor his permission are required for an adoption to go ahead.

This tends to reflect also, his ability to later attempt to establish paternity. In this case, he's likely out of luck - period.

As aardvarc is getting at, a man who doesn't monitor what happens to his sperm once they've been "gifted" has nobody really to blame but himself.

The Mom here is no different from the OP's friend, really.