Can a birth father take legal action?

Question

i hope this doesn't sound like a bad question and i am simply asking for sensible answers, thanks :)

can a birth father take legal action? i am from the uk and was 'seeing' a girl. we were not in a relationship and only had a short (three weeks) relationship - we used an oral contraceptive.

i did not know but she found out very very late that she was pregnant and placed the child for adoption. she felt she had no other option as she ws single and not in any practical position to raise a child. she tried to do the right thing at the time

i did not know any of this and months after she rang me and i believe she tried to tell me what had happened but couldn't - she was veyr emotional and obvoiusly upset. i left the phone call confused but would never have guessed what she was trying to tell me.

i now know that adoption has occurred, i was not named on the birth certificate. can i take any legal action against anyone/council for not consulting me?

thanks for your time.

Answer 1

I would consult a lawyer. Yahoo Answers isn't the best place to pose this question, and you'll get a more clear, concise answer and a strategy to follow from your lawyer.

Hope this helps,

Skatergurljubulee

Answer 2

Have you searched UK adoption law for yourself? If it were my child and I had any doubts I would be searching, reading and making an appointment with a second lawyer.

What are you hoping for? Do you want to parent your child? See your child? Or punish the mother?

You yourself have stated she called and it appeared she tried to tell you something but was very emotional. What did you think was going on when a woman who you ONLY dated for three weeks calls you out of the blue hysterical? It's certainly not because her goldfish died. I agree with one of the other posters....Is it that you were so indiffernt to her that she honestly thought you could carealess? It happens all the time.

If you feel you have been wronged then you need to fight to change the law like Total Recall has mentioned. But you need to jump on it NOW!

  Good luck and I wish you the best.

Answer 3

What your lawyer said is your answer  And if they child is already adopted then I doubt there is much you can do now. You would have to know where the child was and get proof it is yours and even then would be a long fight

Answer 4

I don't know what the laws are in the UK.

However, please ask yourself  a few questions.

Are you feeling pain of the loss, or betrayal?

Will any lawsuit erase the pain that you feel?  

Are you looking to get custody of the child, or just information about the adoption?  

Is any lawsuit worth causing pain to your child, whom you admit is doing very well? (the process is likely to get ugly)

I am not suggesting that you do or don't do anything, because I don't know the whole situation.  If you feel that the child will be better off in some way after the lawsuit, then you should consult an attorney.

Answer 5

I'm not sure but i would go and see someone in the legal profession who you can talk to about this and I'm sure that they will tell you where you stand, and I'm sure if you did want to have custody of your daughter they could do a D.N.A to see if you are the natural father and you could possible have full custody of her, do not feel bitter towards this woman if think she should have told you earlier but at least she has told you and given this child a life instead of terminating him/her so that least you have a chance, so take legal advice and see what you can do, good luck and fair play to you

Answer 6

You need to see a solicitor to discuss your legal rights if any regarding this matter!

If you were a real man you would leave things as they are or at the very least consult the mother first who I think has more right to decide things in the child's best interest than you are!

It is plain to me that when she phoned you your attitude meant she couldn't bring herself to tell you!

The mother & child are the real victims in this, you are not & need to grow up & not cause trouble & get on with your life!

Answer 7

dont know

Answer 8

Please only try and take this further if you really really want to be a father to this baby for the next 18 years minimum where you will take care of him and pay for everything that this child needs.

The mum found herself in a difficult situation and i am sure there are reasons that she hasnt talked to you before, you have to be present when the baby is registered if your name is going on the birth certificate the only exception would be had you been married which you werent.

Please think carefully about why you are doing this, if your talking of suing the mum then i dont believe the babies best interests are at heart and you should leave the baby with the adoptive parents that he or she has or you could s***w up this babies life if you are doing it for the wrong reasons. if your doing it for the right reasons then go ahead and see if you do have any rights.

Answer 9

Why would you want to take legal action against the council?  If your name wasn't on the birth certificate how were they to know who you were unless the mother told them?

Do you want to make contact with your child or is it the fact that you weren't consulted? What are you more concerned about?

Your question does not make it clear.

Answer 10

Don't know the law, but you could certainly try to change it. I would start by suing the agency and the birth mother.  I find it intolerable that you were not notified especially when she clearly knew you were the father.

I disagree with OldPepy.  His attitude is based on secrecy and denial.  The CHILD is the one who will suffer in the end.

Answer 11

YES.

go to www.adoptioncrossroads.org and get help from "joe" he will help you find a lawyer who isn't connected to adoption agencies and working for them while telling you he's working for you.

Answer 12

Yes, you can. And you should

Answer 13

to be honest with you i think this is one for your lawyer. sorry i cant be more help

Answer 14

Yes, seek legal counsel first though. You will have to take paternity tests and such for proof the child is yours. But it may become tricky because the child was placed in an adoptive family. Good luck.

Answer 15

The only way for that to be recognised would be with a dna test, dependent on how old the child is and how many knock on effects you want it to have rests on that. Since you're name isn't on the birth certificate you'd have to give enough evidence for claim of a dna test. If everything comes back like you said then yes you can.

Answer 16

Unfortuanately if you are not named on the birth certificate you have no parental responsibility for the child. Even in this day and age you have to be married to the mother to have parental responsibility.

She was not legally obliged to inform you she was pregnant, although maybe morally she should.

Answer 17

Once a child has been adopted you cannot get them back.

Answer 18

Yes, I think you can but you would need to speak with a solicitor.

Just a few questions though; Why do you want to take action? Against who? What outcome do you want from this? These are the sort of questions a solicitor will ask, so be prepared as they are kind of awkward things to think about.

Why would you want to sue the mother? Are you angry she didn't put you on the birth certificate? Are you sure you are the only possible Dad? Would it of made a difference? Would you have raised the child on your own?

I don't mean to sound harsh so please don't think I am! I am just trying to be devils advocate.

Answer 19

Local authorities are under a duty to locate you if they have a name or can identify you by any means. Sometimes a mother might say she doesnt have your name anymore.

If your not named on the birth certificate, then it might be hard to prove you are the birth father, DNA is the best route but only if subjects agree for testing.

If you know the local authority, then talk to the adoption team and see if they will agree to contact, this would be most likely a letter/card sent by you every year to a postbox address of the local authority.

You can get help from Post adoption services who have offices across the UK as a birth parent.

Answer 20

you should really be posing this question to a british lawyer rather than yahoo answers, if you are serious about this.

I mean, either the answer is yes and you have to go see an attorney anyway or the yahoo people would tell you no and if you are willing to just take the word of random strangers without consulting a licensed attorney, you are not serious about it to begin with, so why are you asking?

Answer 21

this is tough isn't it. I guess you have no rights if that is what the attorney said. Are you upset with her because you want the child or just because she didn't tell you. I agree she should have told you, but what is done is done. Be extra careful in the future!!! I am sorry for you young man.

Answer 22

Yes you can take action you can go to court and have a DNA test done to prove that the child Is you're you do have the right to the child and she should had told you about It before putting the child up for adoption cause you have the right to deside If you want to take the child In or not you can also go to the DCYF office and tell them what Is going on you have more rights then any one eles

Answer 23

I don't know what the laws are in the UK.  Here in California, the birth mother has to be honest about knowing who the birth father is.  The agency has a legal duty to try to contact the birth father and either ask him to sign away his rights or to take custody of the child.  If the father can not be found, or if the birth mother does not know who the father is, then the agency has to put ads in the local newspapers asking if anyone had sexual relations with this birth mother to come forward.

You may want to find out if the agency did any research to find you or if they ran any ads.  If they did, you may not have a case. I would contact the agency directly and find out the story. Or contact an attorney.

The only problem I see is that if you try to fight for the custody of your child now, you will have to take them out of the only home they have ever known.  They may have some separation issues you will have to deal with. And are you ready to be a full-time father?