Debate in infant adoption continues to center around the mother, child and prospective adoptive parents. No one mentions the birth father. The assumption remains that the birth father is missing or uncaring in his responsibility. Seventeen birth fathers agreed to be interviewed to share their personal experiences surrounding an unexpected pregnancy. The birth fathers recollect their feelings, emotions, and circumstances surrounding the decision to relinquish their rights. Birth fathers were caught in a cycle of abandonment.
This report contains the results of a survey of state statutes dealing with putative fathers. This survey was completed during the summer and fall of 1980 by the staff of the American Public Welfare Association. Its purpose was two-fold: 1) to examine the existing state laws on putative fathers with a focus on states' approaches to the due process requirements mandated by the Supreme Court cases of the 1970's; and 2) to identify approaches in existing state statutes which might be useful in making revisions to the proposed Model State Adoption Act. Accordingly, this paper focuses on two…
This final report presents information on the outcomes and accomplishments of the African American Male Adoption Project, which used an innovative approach to find adoptive homes for African American boys in Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN. The report describes the accomplishments of the project, including the development of specialized and ongoing family recruitment strategies, such as announcing the project in church bulletins, airing radio public service announcements, providing materials at African American community events, and compiling photo albums of targeted children. Other activies…
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Journal Article Although much research and attention has been focused on birth mothers, less is known about the experiences and perspectives of birth fathers. The author surveys recent research in this area from the U.S. and Australia, noting that attitudes toward birth fathers range from hostility and grudging acceptance on the part of birth mothers and adoptive parents, to a mix of both positive and negative emotions on the part of adopted children. Negative attitudes of adoption professionals toward birth fathers may be unconscious and result from theories of maternal bonding and attachment prevalent in…
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Journal Article Infant protest following separation from the mother has been used as a partial index of the strength of the mother-infant bond, in which case it is assumed that the strength of the bond covaries with the amount of social interaction. In this study, 36 1-year-old middle-class children with fathers who spent differing amounts of time with them at home were observed in two experimental contexts separated by 2 weeks. In the first, each infant was shown six to eight repetitions of three different nonsocial stimuli followed by a change in the stimulus. In the second, each infant experienced the…
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This paper describes a study examining the nature and importance of fathers' relationships to their infants. Most previous research in this area had concentrated on the negative impact on childhood development of a father's absence, or on the differences between children's relationships with strangers and with their mothers. This study examined the child's behavior in an unfamiliar playroom as a function of the presence or absence of his mother, father, or an unfamiliar female at the ages of 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, and 21 months. The sample consisted of 144 infants (all first-born children), with…
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The influence of fathers' interactive and child-care characteristics on infants' social behavior is explored in 5 experimental studies of infant-father interaction. Problems of methodology are discussed and father-caregiving patterns are noted. The relationship to the father was seen to be independent of the extent of his involvement in child care, although some minimal level of interaction seemed necessary. Extensive paternal caregiving was related to the preference for the father in the laboratory and shortened durations of separation protest. The final study demonstrated that manipulation…
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Journal Article Because the rights afforded to unwed biological fathers are evolving slowly, there are no clear guidelines establishing how courts should decide adoption cases involving fathers' rights. This legal commentary focuses on the origin of recent legislative, judicial, and public support for clarification in this area, particularly the impasse arising when an unwed biological father attempts to block an adoption, and the effects on children of the lack of a uniform standard to determine a father's rights. The historical development of the problem is discussed, focusing specifically on the urgent…
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Journal Article This article discusses paternity proceedings which unwed birth fathers initiate in order to obtain visitation with or custody of their child. In Part 1 the author provides an overview of the legal issues he will develop regarding the rights of putative fathers. Part 2 discusses the presumption of legitimacy, which prevents birth fathers from admitting in evidence facts which would render the child illegitimate. Part 3 examines the best interests of the child standard and the United States Supreme Court cases where birth fathers have sought visitation or custody. This section also explores the…
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Journal Article This law review describes the adoption cases of legal battles between birth fathers and adoptive parents. The author notes that these cases illustrate the tension in the independent adoption laws among the constitutionally protected rights of birth fathers; the tenuous rights of adoptive parents; and the concept of the "best interest of the child." The law review explores the relationship in California among independent adoption laws, the rights of birth fathers, and considerations of the best interests of the child, as they are contained in the California Family Code and developed in case…
