My sister got pregnant when she was 21 and had her baby. The father took off when she was 5 months pregnant. She was very naïve and thought he was coming back so she put his name on the birth certificate. Well, he never came back and it's 12 years later. We have reason to believe that he had also lied about his name and we probably don't even know his real name. (Also found out that he was married). Well, we are have a family reunion on a cruise and when we tried to get my niece a passport we were told that he needs to sign permission since he is on the birth certificate. We have no clue on how to find him. Our family still lives in the same house and has the same phone number and he has never made an attempt to contact his daughter. We were told that we need to get a court order to have his name removed from the birth certificate. Does anyone know how the process works especially with us not really having any "true" information on the father. Also how long does the process take. We are just getting worried as the whole "family" will be on the cruise and we want her to be part of this.

Thanks!
Mary

Well has your sister ever went to court to get full custody and get the fathers right taken away.

If you had such court orders, then it should be no issue getting a passport,
Depending on your state it may not be possible to actually remove him, without proving he was not the father. But getting full custody should be no problem.

Fr Chuck,

My sister never got legal custody. She has been married for the last 10 years and her husband assumes my nieces care (medical, financial, etc.). To him that is his daughter but he never adopted her as he was told that they would have to hire a detective and try to locate him. Financially, that just didn't/don't have that extra money. Would it be complicated for her to get "custody" when she is unable to find the father? Does the process take a very long time?

Thanks!
Mary