Putative Fathers: Are They Entitled to Parental Rights, Really?

Abstract

In most of America, when a child is born to a married couple, the husband is presumed to be the father of the child. In certain instances, that is a rebuttable presumption. However, while the United States Supreme Court has held numerous times that one of the oldest, most fundamental liberty interest rights is that of a parent’s interest in the care, custody and control of his child, this fundamental right is being denied to putative fathers across America in the name of state policy and historical deference. In America, if biological parents of a child are not married to each other at the time of birth, and the birth mother wishes to give that child up for adoption, the father has an uphill battle should he wish to raise his child rather than agree to an adoption. Indeed, there is no guarantee that an objection to adoption proceedings by a putative father will guarantee the father custody of his child. Nor is there a guarantee that he would be successful in defeating the adoption proceeding. This paper will explore issues facing putative fathers and the seemingly systematic denial of their parental rights, including the systems currently in place such as registration on Putative Father Registries and in some states, petitioning courts for adjudication simply to be recognized as a father in order to have standing to oppose adoption proceedings and whether the system as it exists today is in the best interest of the parties involved, or whether the procedural hoops and legal wrangling that putative fathers must engage in, that ultimately result in the blatant denial of constitutionally protected rights of fathers. Indeed, some would argue that Putative Father Registries do not protect an unmarried father’s right to be a father, but rather, serve as a tool to expedite the termination of his parental rights in order to expedite the adoption process.