Birth Father Rights

Every birth father, just like every birth mother, has parental rights to their child and these rights have to be addressed in any child adoption.  It is important to understand these rights and how they apply to the adoption process.

A woman's husband is the legal father of any child she gives birth to even if they have been separated and even if he is not the actual biological father. The biological father, if he is not married to the birth mother, he is called the putative father.  The legal father, biological father, or putative father are all considered to be the birth father(s).  Accordingly, a child may have a biological father, a putative father, and a legal father and they can all be the same person or can be different men. 

Each U.S. state has different laws concerning the parental rights of the birth father and there is no one law that applies across every state. There is also no one national putative father registry where every birth father can register his name.

Termination, surrender or relinquishment of parental rights ends the biological parent-child relationship. Once the relationship has been ended, the child is legally free to be adopted.  Each U.S. state has laws relating to the ending of the parental rights of the birth mother and birth father. You may want to check the laws of the state in which you reside, under the heading of termination, surrender or relinquishment of parental rights. 

A birth father has the option of being actively involved in an adoption.  The laws of the state in which the birth mother terminates her rights and the laws of the birth father's state of residence will help define the birth father's rights.  ChildAdoptionLaws.com will help you to find the requirements of any or all states.

The Child Welfare Information Gateway article titled The Rights of Presumed (Putative) Fathers provides basic information about putative fathers' parental rights and putative father registries.

For additional information about ending a birth fathers parental rights, please visit birth mother termination and visit the Adoption Services pages Birth Father Rights Regarding Child Adoption and Adoption Laws and Rights.