Can the Dad of a 16 year old kick her out/force her to give up the baby?
I am not pregnant.
I am sixteen, and sexuality active (contemplating putting a stop to that).
I am trying to look into the legalities of the situation, but to keep things simple I will say my dad and I do not have a good relationship. My mother died a year and a half ago, though I never had much of a relationship with her, and my father and I live in the same house and are barely on speaking terms.
My dad isn't a nice man. For years he would tell me that I was a worthless b**** and that nobody would want me, that I was a failure and I would go no where in life. He would talk about him being 'god' in 'this house'. He trashed myself esteem on a daily basis and did a lot of damage that I am still trying to forget. Child protection services have been called on multiple occasions, and each time he tells them that I am crazy like my mother was (she was schizophrenic) and that I always mentally abuse him and treat him badly when I don't even talk to him unless it's necessary (and yes, I am polite).
What I am doing right now is trying hard to focus on my school work, and get into a good college so I can support myself and never have to take crap from him again.
Last year, I moved out for five months because of drama after mother's death (dad would burst into my room late at night to tell me it was all my fault and point out how, why and how I should just kill myself). He punched me, I ran for it. He said I was so disrespectful for running for it, and kicked me out. I soon moved back in and since then we don't talk to each other if we can help it, and he pretends to be some poor caring father who I disrespect so much.
That's the background.
My question, though, is based on the possibility of what might happen. I live in New Jersey, and were I to get pregnant, does my father have any rights on where I go or what I do with the child? I don't believe in abortion.
I am worried about what would happen to the child, because though I am on birth control and use other methods of protection as well, if I were to some how get pregnant I don't want my dad anywhere near the baby. He is however threatening that if I get pregnant he will send me to a group home and put the baby in an orphanage.
I am leaning towards telling my boyfriend of two years that if he isn't ready to take full responsibility, I am not going to have sexual intercourse with him anymore.
I don't want to introduce a child into an abusive environment.
I try to find a web site with explanations on the New Jersey lpregnancy laws for minors, but I can't seem to find anything about what the parents of the pregnant minor can do.
What can my dad do, and is there a way to prevent it?
I want to be prepared before I make a mistake.
Additional information: Dad easily turns the courts against me because I have a history of self harm, which I am almost a year clean of. I had really bad coping skills, but I have matured a lot in the past year and am learning how to handle life a lot better. If things aren't going his way legally, he just claims I'm crazy.
