but, and as I stated, paternity still must be acknowledged by the court first before they can severe the relationship. It would appear that the first petition is only a precursor to the second petition if paternity has not been established.




In the second petition, it clearly shows that a putative father has to be notified with the one exception of:

He cannot be located after reasonable effort was made. He has not provided support for the mother, has not shown any
interest in the child, and has not made provision for the child's care for at least 90 days preceding this hearing.
but again, notice must be attempted.

the only other possibilities available are a denial of paternity of a prior spouse during some of the pregnancy of the concerned child or simply the inability to determine the father but even that requires a reasonable effort be made to determine the father.

I just do not see any way for the mother to simply terminate any possible parental rights without first making an effort to first taking all reasonable efforts to first establish paternity.