When most people in Colorado think of adoption, they believe that the child is given up willingly by both the biological parents or that a state agency has intervened in cases of abuse or neglect. However, one man is still fighting an adoption that concerns his now 3-year-old son. The battle has been going on for as long as the child has been on the earth, and now, the man has filed a federal lawsuit seeking $30 million for the loss of a relationship with his son because of the adoption, and $100 million as a “deterrent to ensure that other men don’t have to go through what” he is having to endure.
This case started back in 2009, when he met the baby’s mother. She had told him that she was divorced, and a relationship began between the two. She became pregnant. He created a fund for the baby and told her wanted to fulfill his role as the child’s father and accepted his parental responsibility.
The man took a temporary job in another state but upon his return, the couple split up. However, they talked about what to name the child and different parenting options. The man said he was going to register with the putative father registry, but the woman told him that she “would view it as an act of distrust.” The man didn’t register.
The day the baby was born, the couple exchanged text messages, with the woman allegedly telling the man that she would have a Caesarian-section in the second week of January 2011. However, he eventually learned through another text that the baby was born the last week of December 2010 and that another couple had adopted the child. The man also found out that she was never divorced and that her estranged husband signed away his parental rights.
The man tried to claim the child as his through a paternity claim, but since he didn’t register with the state, he learned that the fight would be very difficult. The adoption was never legalized, but the man didn’t learn that until November 2011. A district judge denied the man’s claim for paternity, and the case is now being appealed.
The lawsuit the man filed is not connected to the custody case. However, he does seek to hold the system accountable for not having seen his son since he was born.
Source: growingyourbaby.com, “Utah Father Files $130 Million Lawsuit after Son is Allegedly Given up for Adoption against His Wishes” No author given, Jan. 02, 2014