Most people in Massachusetts associate the average 18-year-old more with a teenager than an adult. The assumption that they live a carefree life with few responsibilities is likely widely held. However, that is certainly not the case for one 18-year-old as he finds himself fighting for child custody of an infant daughter that he has never met before.
The young man claims that he did not even know that he was a father until an adoption agency contacted him to sign over his parenting rights. He refused and, instead, set up a room for the little girl at the house he lives in with his mother. He is determined to win custody of the young girl.
Unfortunately, the adoption agency refuses to relinquish custody without the order of the family court. It claims the father is unfit to raise the baby. Both the baby’s father and grandmother deny these claims. In fact, the father’s mother has vowed to support her son while raising the young girl by being there for them along the way.
The father and mother of the child were once dating. They were both underage when the baby was conceived. While he says that he was not included on the birth certificate, he is listed as the father with the adoption agency. He has initiated the process of undergoing a paternity test in order to bolster his case.
If the father’s claims in this case are true, it certainly seems as if he has a strong chance of being given child custody in a family court. Similarly, any person in Massachusetts who feels they are being unfairly denied access to their children has the right to seek legal intercession. Hopefully, the judge in this case will be able to determine what is in the best interest of the infant at the center of this case.
Source: turnto10.com, Tony Gugliotta, July 10, 2013
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