Father's Right to See Child After Birth

Ohio

My brother and his wife just had a baby. There was a dispute 2 weeks prior to the birth and she had moved out with her parents and had not talked to my brother for 2 weeks even when he tried to contact her or her family. She called the night she went into labor and he showed up. He was there in the room for delivery etc and held his baby for 10 min or so before the mom started a dispute over how the baby was being held etc... Long story short the nurses made him leave the room and told him he couldn't come back in. Devestated, he walked out of the hospital and we all talked with him. As he walked back in, an officer stopped him and said he was not allowd back in (the fight was not abusive or words were not heavily exchanged). No one will let him in to see the baby now and the family will not talk to him... What is the next few steps in order to have him see his child? They are still married. Also how long will it be until he gets the chance to see his child? What determines custody (split or full)?

As the child's father, he should still be entitled to see his child as much as the child's mother. There's no court order in place stating otherwise. Even though his wife moved out, there's nothing to suggest this is a separation of any kind. Even so, the lack of a formal court order dictating child visitation has not been established and she can't keep him from seeing his child.

Have him go try and see the child again, if she's still not budging, he can call the police and explain the situation. They can either help him or point him to an agency that can, e.g. social services.

If the owner of the property where she is staying forbids him entrance to the property, he is not allowed on that property. He is entitled to see his child but no way to enforce or force it. The police cannot do anything because there is nothing illegal about what she is doing.

as to preventing him from seeing the child; yep, she can. Not in a legally enforceable way but in a way he cannot really do anything about it. All she has to do is stay in the parents house with dad at the door.

If she and the child are out and about, dad can approach but if there is any sort of altercation, I can assure you the child will go home with mom and if dad does anything to harass mom, he might end up in jail. Regardless of the child, the mother is her own person and is protected by the laws as much as a complete stranger would be.


He needs to figure out if the wife is just having issues due to the childbirth (plays havoc with hormones) or if this is the beginning of the end. If it is simply the wife having personal issues, he simple needs to work through it. If the relationship is ending, he needs to treat it as such and file for a custody and visitation hearing.

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Quoting jk

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If the owner of the property where she is staying forbids him entrance to the property, he is not allowed on that property. He is entitled to see his child but no way to enforce or force it. The police cannot do anything because there is nothing illegal about what she is doing.

as to preventing him from seeing the child; yep, she can. Not in a legally enforceable way but in a way he cannot really do anything about it. All she has to do is stay in the parents house with dad at the door.

If she and the child are out and about, dad can approach but if there is any sort of altercation, I can assure you the child will go home with mom and if dad does anything to harass mom, he might end up in jail. Regardless of the child, the mother is her own person and is protected by the laws as much as a complete stranger would be.


He needs to figure out if the wife is just having issues due to the childbirth (plays havoc with hormones) or if this is the beginning of the end. If it is simply the wife having personal issues, he simple needs to work through it. If the relationship is ending, he needs to treat it as such and file for a custody and visitation hearing.

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I do not understand how she or the hospital can keep him from seeing his own child regardless of where she is staying. To me it is like a kidnap situation... Bullshit is what it is

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Quoting Bjamin

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I do not understand how she or the hospital can keep him from seeing his own child regardless of where she is staying. To me it is like a kidnap situation... Bullshit is what it is

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In the hospital, the mother is the patient. If the mother doesn't want him around her, away he goes. Although as a married man paternity is presumed, if mom does not fill out the paperwork naming dad as dad, he isn't dad, at least as far as the hospital is concerned. You need to realize that a hospital is not going to get in the middle of anything. Their duty is to their patients and that would be mom and the child. They will do what it takes to keep any argument out of the hospital.


as to the mother being able to keep him away: as I said, she cannot actually keep him away but since she is at the parents house, the parents can keep him off their property. If the mother ventures out in the public, if there is a problem and the police show up, especially because of the age of the child, they will let the child go with the mother and tell dad to take it to court.

so, while it is not a legally enforceable act, it is reality.

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Quoting Bjamin

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I do not understand how she or the hospital can keep him from seeing his own child regardless of where she is staying. To me it is like a kidnap situation... Bullshit is what it is

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This is clearly not kidnapping. And you bet your derriere the hospital can prevent him from being on the premises.

Social services will not help Dad see the child. That's not their role (for the other poster who suggested that the police and/or social services will help).

Mom's calling all the shots at the moment until one of them files something in court.

Sad to ask but if a drug test is to be issued, what type is usually used? (hair, urine, blood) and what kind of notice would be given about this or would it be right then and there? (weed use is of concern in custody) he has been clean for 1 week and is in the process of getting life back to normal. Sorry if that question is awkward and makes some opinions believe he should not have custody. He would and will be a great father... Anyways any insight is great

The type of test depends on the drugs suspected. Notifying people of testing in advance isn't generally a good idea, and most judges are smarter than your average drug user - so usually the judge does't give a lot of warning and just says "go get tested now". Blood isn't usually used for THC testing since it metabolizes rather quickly in the blood. Urine testing is more common since residuals in urine can be detected for much longer periods.

I figured a urine test would be issued if any. Hopefully all of this works out for him. Having his wife turn on him has been hard enough plus not seeing his child. Thanks for all the help and info this far.

If his marriage broke up due to his drug addiction, it's far from fair to say that his wife turned on him or that it's her fault that he cannot see his child.

Never once did I say he had a drug addiction... And that is not the issue in his marriage. It is the mothers fault as she is psycho

I'm pretty sure that you're not even vaguely qualified to make any sort of mental diagnosis.

Might want to stop throwing that one around.

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Quoting Bjamin

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Never once did I say he had a drug addiction... And that is not the issue in his marriage. It is the mothers fault as she is psycho

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No, you just told us that he uses illegal drugs and, even when his ability to see his child is on the line, has great difficulty abstaining even for a week. You say tomato....