Matter of Adoption of Baby Boy W.

1992 OK 58, 831 P.2d 643, 63 O.B.A.J. 1381, 1992 Okla. LEXIS 79, 1992 WL 90532
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedMay 5, 1992
Docket74613
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 1992 OK 58 (Matter of Adoption of Baby Boy W.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Matter of Adoption of Baby Boy W., 1992 OK 58, 831 P.2d 643, 63 O.B.A.J. 1381, 1992 Okla. LEXIS 79, 1992 WL 90532 (Okla. 1992).

Opinions

HODGES, Vice Chief Justice.

This is an appeal from the district court allowing the adoption of a baby without the unwed father’s consent. We affirm the trial court. The parties to this appeal are the biological father (appellant) and the adoptive parents, the biological mother, and the minor child1 (appellees).

I. ISSUES

The first issue is whether a trial court must order a father to pay medical bills for the birth of a child, set child support, and order visitation before allowing the adoption of the child without the father’s consent. The second issue is whether the Indian Child Welfare Act applies in the present case.

II. FACTS

A transcript of the trial has not been included in the record. Without the transcript, it is impossible to review the facts which were presented at trial. The parties’ statements of the facts differ considerably. The following is a statement of the facts as taken from the briefs. The record does not reflect which version of the facts is accurate.

The parties do not dispute that the biological mother and appellant met in 1988 and began dating. She was fourteen years old, and he was seventeen years old. The mother became pregnant sometime between August and October of 1988. At about her sixth month of pregnancy, the mother’s parents discovered that she was pregnant. Appellant alleges that at the time of the discovery of the pregnancy that contact with him was cut off. Appellees allege that the mother’s parents not only did not cut off contact, but actually attempted to get the appellant to meet with them to discuss the pregnancy, his relationship with their daughter, and his responsibility for the cost of the birth of the child. They allege that the appellant refused.

Baby Boy W. was born on June 16, 1989. The appellant makes much of the fact that the biological mother entered the hospital under an assumed name and was assigned to a room without a telephone. He states that she called him two days after the baby was born and told him of the birth. He argues that he could not pay any of the medical bills because the information was confidential. However, he does not allege that he tried to pay the hospital and the hospital refused to allow him to do so. The appellees counter that the appellant knew the name under which the mother entered the hospital, knew the hospital in which she delivered, and made no attempt to help with the costs.

The appellant asserts that he paid $250.00 toward the medical bills. The ap-pellees reply that, although he had a job, the appellant did not make any payments on the medical bills until the last day of the trial. Because those payments were made to either the mother or her parents, appel-lees imply that he could have paid the mother directly for the bills at any time.

The day after birth, the baby was placed with the adoptive parents. On June 21, 1989, the appellant filed a petition to establish paternity. At that hearing, appellant learned of the adoption proceedings. The [645]*645paternity action was transferred to the judge presiding over the adoption proceedings.

On October 5, 1989, the trial court entered a decree establishing that the appellant was the baby’s father. In that same decree, the trial court found that the Indian Child Welfare Act did not apply because the baby had never been in appellant’s custody. The court also consolidated the paternity action with the adoption proceedings. After a trial on the remaining issues, the trial court terminated the parental rights of the appellant and found that the adoption should proceed without the appellant’s consent.

III. DISCUSSION

The appellant argues two errors in his brief on appeal. First, he argues that the trial court erred when it allowed the adoption to proceed without his consent effectively terminating his parental rights without ever giving him the opportunity to show he was a fit parent. He argues that the trial court should have ordered him to pay medical bills, set child support and visitation, whereby giving him a chance to prove his parental fitness. Second, he argues that the Indian Child Welfare Act applies to this case.

A. TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS

There are three statutes under which parental rights can be terminated. Section 29.1 of title 10 of the Oklahoma Statutes applies when the mother of a child born out of wedlock relinquishes her rights to the child. There is no evidence in the record and the parties do not argue that section 29.1 is applicable in the present case.2 In fact, appellant concedes that section 29.1 is not applicable. Section 1130(A)(4) of the title 10 provides for the termination of parental rights when a noncustodial parent fails to contribute to the support of a child under a court order or, in the absence of a court order, fails to provide for the child consistent with his ability. Appellant also concedes that section 1130 does not apply.

Section 60.6 of title 10 provides for adoption without the consent of the parent which effectively terminates that parent’s rights. Section 60.6 is the applicable statute because the adoptive parents are seeking to allow the adoption without the appellant’s consent. It provides that a child under eighteen (18) years cannot be adopted without the consent of its parents except under some circumstances. Section 60.6(3) provides an exception to the general consent rule. Section 60.6 provides:

[Cjonsent is not required from:
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(3) The father or putative father of a child born out of wedlock if:
a. prior to the hearing provided for in Section 29.1 of this title, and having actual knowledge of the birth or impending birth of the child believed to be his child, he fails to acknowledge paternity of the child or to take any action to legally establish his claim to paternity of the child or to exercise parental rights or duties over the child, including failure to contribute to the support of the mother of the child to the extent of his financial ability during her term of pregnancy, or
b. at the hearing provided for in Section 29.1 of this title:
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(2) having established paternity, he fails to prove that he has exercised parental rights and duties toward the child unless he proves that prior to the receipt of notice he had been specifically denied knowledge of the child or denied the opportunity to exercise parental rights and duties toward the child. As used in this subparagraph, specific denial of knowledge of the child or denial of the opportunity to exercise parental rights and duties toward the child shall not include those instances where the father or putative father fails to prove to the satisfaction [646]*646of the court that he made a sufficient attempt to discover if he had fathered the child or to exercise parental rights and duties toward the child prior to the receipt of notice....

(Emphasis added.)

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Matter of Adoption of Baby Boy W.
1992 OK 58 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1992)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1992 OK 58, 831 P.2d 643, 63 O.B.A.J. 1381, 1992 Okla. LEXIS 79, 1992 WL 90532, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/matter-of-adoption-of-baby-boy-w-okla-1992.