What Happens During the Adoption Process if You're Left Out of the Paternity?

So here's a scenario for you--say you had a fling with a married woman.  You found out she was pregnant, she says you need to break up.  Down the road, you find out that she had the baby, and her and her husband signed the papers to allow the child to be adopted.  You have an inkling that the child was yours--what do you do now?

One Ohio father did what any biological father would want to do--he filed with the courts to establish paternity of the child, and then fought for his son back from the adoptive parents--three years after the baby boy was born.

The biological mother claimed her husband as the father--however, due to divorce, her and her husband signed over papers to allow the baby boy to be adopted--all of this was done without the true father's consent, and even though it is years later, he has the right to take his child back.

Read this man's story on ParentDish--and decide for yourself--when adoption agencies collect and gather information about the parents of the baby, should they do a paternity test as well to establish them as the true parents to avoid situations such as this one?

Dayton, Ohio Adoption Case Strengthening Father's Rights for their Children

In Dayton, Ohio, one case regarding an adopted two-year-old girl has brought national attention to adoption rules and how the "system" works when it comes to a father's rights to their children and their ability to stop adoption proceedings that occur without their okay.

The article from The Columbus Dispatch quotes Susan Eisenman, an adoption lawyer from the Upper Arlington area: "I don't think it's hit people yet just how persuasive this might be...if the guy doesn't want the adoption to go forward, all he has to do is file a paternity suit."

This might be a big step for fathers' rights in the eyes of the adoption industry.  Read more here!

--National Brotherhood of Fathers' Rights