[rushhourlee]

My fiancé got me pregnant unexpectedly and we aren't married as of today. I want to break ties with him and his family since he has been very abusive and violence towards me. He wants the baby. I have no intention to marry him nor to raise the baby with him anyway. Plus with my health and financial situation, I am a bad fit to be a mother. My due date is 3/3/13 and I will be moving back to my own place after delivery. How do I go by giving up my rights to the baby at this point? I absolutely want nothing to do with him in the future to come legally.

[bigwig]

Pray about it, if you're the praying kind.

[Synnen]

So... you want to give a baby to an abusive man to raise and give up your rights so you don't have to... what? Pay child support?

Not going to happen, sister.

What kind of person are YOU, that you would run from abuse and yet give an innocent child up to the abuser?

[Synnen]

To answer your question, though you have not given any more information---you need a court to relinquish your parental rights, and courts are VERY reluctant to do so unless a stepparent is ready to adopt.

You will have to tell a judge WHY you are not interested in co-parenting with this person.

And relinquishing parental rights has NOTHING to do with parental obligations. Even if on some slim chance a judge allows you to relinquish, you're going to be paying child support for the child.

[rushhourlee]

I had filed a police report last November on him. I have no interest in marrying him and I am just NOT ready to be a mother. I have depression and my health has been a disaster. I had been told by an adoption agency that I could go for relinquish parental rights and I am not obligated to pay child support. I have no money to support the baby anyway. My fiancé has a good job, a house and health insurance and I have nothing. I would have taken the baby away from him if I am very rich and can provide his expenses. I tried to abort the child but my fiancé had been threatening/blackmailing to hurt me last summer since my place wasn't available. I could have moved back and aborted the child and without all these messes.

[Synnen]

The adoption agency is right---to a point.

If you give the child up for ADOPTION, and BOTH of you relinquish parental rights, then you don't pay child support.

If the child is not adopted and just brought up by the other biological parent, you will probably have to pay. There are probably millions of men out there who say the Same thing as you: I'm poor, I'm not ready, I have depression and poor health and I just am not ready to be a parent.

Guess what?

Those men are paying child support.

If you could get out of child support by relinquishing rights, there would be a line around the corner of every courthouse in this country for people who don't want their kids to sign off and get out of support.

[rushhourlee]

Are you a lawyer in Texas?

[Synnen]

No, I am a birthparent who has dealt with adoption law (which requires relinquishing parental rights) for about 20 years now.

If you want a lawyer to answer your question, you are welcome to hire one. I am simply a volunteer giving you the information I know about relinquishing parent rights in most areas. I believe that a lawyer will give you the same answer--that if you are able to relinquish RIGHTS, you will still have RESPONSIBILITIES.

You still refer to this person as your fiance--will you marry this person after you relinquish? You have said you want to cut ties because of abuse. Can you REALLY bring yourself to leave a CHILD in an abusive household?

[JudyKayTee]

I can't get beyond a birth mother "leaving" her child with an abusive, threatening boyfriend because she's not ready or able to be a mother. Too bad she was ready to have sex. Anyway, the lawyer is wrong. You cannot hand your child over and walk away If the father decides at any time in the future to pursue child support the mother will owe. No way around that.

And I'm not a lawyer in Texas either. Maybe you should contact one.

[Fr_Chuck]

You can not just give up the rights to the baby and let the father have the baby, does not work like that.
You can give custody of the baby to the father, and walk away but may have to pay chlld support.

If you and the father give up rights to the baby, then the baby can be adopted by a family and there is no obligation.

The birth father can not adopt his own child, he merely gets custody of the child.

[ScottGem]

If I recall TX law, the adoption agency is right that if you terminate rights you don't have to pay support. However, that means the likelihood that a court will grant you a TPR is extremely slim.