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coadoptiveparents · Sep 24, 2007, 01:00 PM

We are going through an adoption here and have run into a problem. The birthmom has signed over her rights, but now the birthfathers grandmother has step in. She wants her grandson to raise the child. He is 16 and in trouble with the law (at bootcamp). His father is in prison, so grandmother is his guardian. They haven't paid any support to the birthmother, haven't shown any interest now until the paperwork has begun. What rights do they have? Our lawyer has served papers and set a court date. Apparently the homelife isn't good there. Would a judge take a baby out of a stable home and put it with 16 year old in trouble with the law, and at a home where support really isn't?

tickle · Sep 24, 2007, 01:10 PM

I doubt very much if a judge would leave a youngster with a l6 year old who is not self sufficient and basically unable to support himself or anyone else. As you say, in boot camp. I am sure all come out when in court and you are worrying needlessly.

patrick91059 · Sep 25, 2007, 10:19 AM

How do I find a child I put up for adoption in a closed adoption in Michigan

macksmom · Sep 25, 2007, 10:36 AM

Originally Posted by patrick91059

how do i find a child I put up for adoption in a closed adoption in michigan

You need to post your question in a thread of it's own... not in response to someone else's question.

Synnen · Sep 26, 2007, 10:07 AM

Originally Posted by coadoptiveparents

We are going through an adoption here and have run into a problem. The birthmom has signed over her rights, but now the birthfathers grandmother has step in. She wants her grandson to raise the child. He is 16 and in trouble with the law (at bootcamp). His father is in prison, so grandmother is his guardian. They haven't paid any support to the birthmother, haven't shown any interest now until the paperwork has begun. What rights do they have? Our lawyer has served papers and set a court date. Apparently the homelife isn't good there. Would a judge take a baby out of a stable home and put it with 16 year old in trouble with the law, and at a home where support really isn't?

While it is likely that a judge would not give him immediate custody--he DOES have rights to his child. No one can force him to sign those rights away, either.

What is likely is that if he will not sign away his rights is that the child will be placed in foster care pending specific terms for the father to regain custody.

IF the judge were to sever his parental rights based on his past, it would set an extremely dangerous precedent, and birthparents rights groups everywhere would be up in arms over his treatment.

tickle · Sep 26, 2007, 03:52 PM

Synnen, I really don't think he has rights to his child being in the position he is in and his age, 16 now and a disturbed youth. I don't know, probably different where you are, but from what I know it would not set an extremely dangerous precedent here if the judge presented the child to the children's aid or a close family member.

Or am I reading you wrong ?

Synnen · Sep 26, 2007, 04:04 PM

What I'm saying is that the father has the right to try to change himself to get custody of his child. If he is not able to, currently, take care of his child, there are foster care services in place to help him.

Basically, what I'm saying is that the potential adoptive parents of his child can not force him in any way to sign over his rights, and that a court will uphold his rights so long as he does not harm his child in any way.

IF the father makes every attempt to turn his life around, there is no reason he (and through him, his family) should not have the right to raise his own child.

The child's mother, though, may have a civil case against him based on the fact that she signed over her parental rights with the understanding that he would too, so that their child could be adopted.

In any case, what I am saying is that unless he is proven an unfit parent (which I don't believe he can be, based just on the fact that he is in boot camp), there is no legal reason to terminate his parental rights.

If being in prison were all it took to make a person an unfit parent, there would be a LOT more children in the foster system who could be adopted. Parental rights are either terminated voluntarily, for adoption, or they are terminated because the child's best interests and welfare are in danger. Believe me, involuntary termination doesn't happen as often as it probably should.

FeelSoNumbZombie · Sep 30, 2007, 03:30 AM

Coadoptive,
The 16 year old is the father. It is his child. If he or his family wants the child, they will get the child. Especially if the grandparents have a stable home to provide a healthy environment for that child and the teenager shows that he is trying to be a better person. After all, bootcamp is a stepping stone to recovery.

s_cianci · Sep 30, 2007, 06:52 AM

The grandmother has no rights whatsoever. The father does have rights but it's unlikely that, given his age and circumstances, the judge would block the adoption based on that. Has the father attempted to assert any of his rights? He can relinquish them and the grandmother can't do anything about it.

Fr_Chuck · Sep 30, 2007, 07:52 AM

The father will have rights, if he wants them, So unless the father will sign over his rights, it will be hard to adopt. You are doing the right thing with an attorney, but this is why at the start of an adoption, you always have to have both the mother and father sign over rights normally before you get the child in your home.