Giving Up a Father's Parental Rights

Atlanta,GA

I guess i should start off with a little bit of background. I'm currently pregnant with my ex's child. We have broken up and he denies paternity. He wants nothing to do with the child and has told me that if the child is his he will send a check but never be a father to the child. I'm trying to decide if i should ask him to give up all parental rights once the child is born and proved to be his. I don't care about getting child support from him I will provide financialy for the child. My delimia is if the child should have his father in his life. I am worried that if he gives up all rights my son or daughter will suffer if they ever do want to be involved with him. If they would like to meet there father i want them to have that option.

Legally what happens when the father gives up there rights? What if the child wants to make contact in the future? Will his name go on the birth certificate once paternity is proven?

I just want to do what is in the best interest of our child. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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I'm trying to decide if i should ask him to give up all parental rights once the child is born and proved to be his.

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Unless he is proven to be unfit, the court won't let him relinquish his rights.

What if he says he doesn't want his rights? Basically he has said that he wants nothing to do with his child but will send a check every month because he has too. If that is the case i would rather him just not do anything i don't want his money if he's not going to be a real father to the child.

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What if he says he doesn't want his rights?

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The court will tell him "Too bad."

He can "not want" his rights til the heat death of the universe. Unless he is proven unfit, the court WILL NOT legally strip him of his rights.

That means if he wants to play "absentee wallet", he can do so, but if he changes his mind and wants to be a decent and upstanding human being instead of just a sperm donor at some point in the future, he can file for visitation arrangements.

The courts WILL NOT prevent this.

Try to think of it this way...The child is entitled to be supported financially by BOTH parents, even if one of them does not want to participate in the child's life. The child would be denied the right to medical information, inheritance, social security, etc.

The state will not allow a parent to terminate their rights in order to avoid support, otherwise it would be done all the time. Normally they will terminate rights if another parent is waiting to adopt the child.

The best thing you can do for your child is to go to the state and request their help to establish paternity and get an order for child support. If you can prove the father is a risk to the child then you can request either sole custody or supervised visitations.

Everyone is forgetting one BIG thing. Boyfriend doesn't have any parental rights to relinquish. This isn't a child that is going to be born of a marriage, so the ONLY person in this situation who LEGALLY has a child is the OP. Boyfriend can go about his merry little way and as long as HE doesn't legitimate the child and no one moves to establish paternity and/or file for child support, he can live the rest of his life denying he has a child...

Courtclerk you are right and that is what he has said he is going to do. As soon as the child is born or legally possible i'm going to establish paternity. As of now i don't know that i'm going to ask for child support but i'm definitely establishing that he is the baby's father. When should i get a lawyer? Do i start the process now or wait until the child is born?
Thanks for the help/advice

What's the point in establishing paternity if you don't want child support and he has no intentions of being a father.

I don't know if i'm going to ask for child support or not I very well may decide to go that route. The main reason for wanting to establish parternity is so that it is proven is the eyes of the court/law that he is the biological father. I think that there should be written proof just in case it is needed one day. I don't want to wait a year or two or how ever long and have to track him down. Also i want my child to know who there father is without any doubts. The only way to do that is by establishing paternity.

Do you think that's not the best thing to do?

That's not a legal question, that's your decision. Depends on what your motives are. If you are hoping to FORCE him into being a father/parent, then don't waste your time. No amount of establishing paternity is going to MAKE him a father. If he doesn't want to be one, then he doesn't want to be one and nothing you do is going to make him. In fact, there is no way to ensure he'd even pay child support if it was ordered.

As for your child knowing who their father is, at this point, all they'd have is a name unless he was volunteering to be a willing participant in the raising of this child. Again, it's your choice and not one anyone on an internet message board should get involved in.