Many adoptions happen without the biological father’s knowledge or consent. However, the law does provide him with a certain degree of parental rights that he can exercise to prevent an adoption proceeding from occurring. At the firm, our Miami fathers’ rights attorneys help clients protect their legal rights and fight for their desired outcome in family court proceedings involving timesharing, custody, and other aspects of child-related matters.
Our lawyers understand the importance of reducing social biases that can lead to an unintended or unequal outcome in a family law case. Ingrained gender bias is a common factor that can unfairly favor the mother in cases involving children, which is why we work tirelessly to level the playing field for our clients when it comes to child custody and other parental rights matters.
The law distinguishes between three categories of unwed fathers: putative, acknowledgement, and adjudicated. A putative birth father has not legally been married to the mother and has not been listed on the child’s birth certificate or otherwise officially recognized as the father. An acknowledgment father is one who has signed a paternity acknowledgement form or sworn declaration of parentage, which gives him the same rights as a biological mother in an adoption case. An adjudicated father is a man who has been declared by the court as the child’s biological father based on DNA testing or other evidence. An adjudicated father is entitled to more rights than a putative or acknowledgment father, which includes the right to veto an adoption plan.
An unwed father who has demonstrated some form of parental interest during the pregnancy (such as filing for paternity, paying medical bills for the mother, expressing his intent to care for or raise the child, taking the mother to doctor’s appointments, holding himself out as the father, etc.) has the right to withhold his consent to the adoption, which can be challenged if the birth mother tries to proceed with the adoption anyway. In some cases, a sworn statement of parental abandonment can be used to terminate a parent’s rights, which would allow an agency or independent adoption to occur.
If you are facing an adoption issue, it is important to contact a qualified father rights attorney or adoption lawyer as soon as possible. Our experienced legal team can assist you in establishing paternity, pursuing an objection to the adoption, and other child-related issues in court.
If you would like to learn more about how we can help you, please call our firm for a free consultation with our Miami divorce & family lawyer today. You can also fill out the convenient online contact form to schedule a meeting with us. We look forward to hearing from you! Located in the heart of downtown Miami, our office serves clients throughout the state. We offer evening and weekend appointments, and we speak fluent Spanish. Our firm’s attorneys are dedicated to providing the highest quality of legal representation at a reasonable cost.