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[FONT="Comic Sans MS"]The State of Florida took my son from his mother over ten years ago. She was into alot of bad things. She sold her body and used drugs. The State was right in taking the child into custody. However, they never contacted me. They say they looked for me. If they did they would have found me. Their diligent search efforts were not equal to those they used to find the mother when it came time for the adoption to be final. Had they used the same methods they would have found me. I looked for my son for over ten years. Now his mother sends me a facebook message to tell me that he was taken she is sorry and wanted to apologize for not telling me sooner. She now has cancer and wanted to clear her conscience I guess. I tried looking for an attorney. Can't afford one. One that I know said I have a really good case. However, no one wants to sue the State of Florida on a contingency basis. I even contacted the Governors office only to get pawned off onto some DCF worker who is going to review the case and then get back with me to discuss it. There is nothing to discuss. They screwed up. When my son was adopted the State was pushing adoptions hard. The adoption rate was the highest it had ever been. I wonder how many other parents were not searched for correctly and lost their children. Now the State wants to ignore me....I just don't know what to do. Part of me wants to send a letter to my local newspaper and tell them how many adoptions could have been screwed up. The state would have to start investigating so much to just verify if they were or were not. I dont want to ruin any ones life. But if there is another parent out there like me. Then it might be worth it.[/FONT]
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getemnoles
[FONT="Comic Sans MS"]The State of Florida took my son from his mother over ten years ago.......However, they never contacted me. They say they looked for me. If they did they would have found me. ............ I looked for my son for over ten years. .....I dont want to ruin any ones life. But if there is another parent out there like me. Then it might be worth it.[/FONT]
I'm a bit confused as well. Where were you when your son came into state custody? Weren't you involved in parenting him? Weren't you in touch with him and his mother, so that you could keep your relationship going? Weren't you paying child support for your son?Where were you, when all this went down? How could you have not known about it?
It sounds like that in the state of FL the consent of a biological father is not required in order for a child to be placed for adoption.
See [url=http://www.adoptionflorida.com/floridalaw.htm]Florida Adoption Law[/url] -
Not saying this is "right" or "fair" but there it is. Also, I found this:
So, while you were not notified and perhaps someone did not follow up and investigate thoroughly when your biological child's biological mother at the time of the adoption, it seems as though your consent was not necessary for the adoption to take place. Therefore, I imagine it'll be tough to sue the state.
Did you call the FL Bar Referral Service?
Florida Bar Lawyer Referral Service at 1-800-342-8011
Did you "Consenting Affidavit Acknowledging Paternity, DH 432, with the Office of Vital Statistics prior to the date that a petition for termination of parental rights?"
If so, then you would have been "presumed to be the biological father." Perhaps, if you had not verified your paternity, this is why the state did not push further to contact you - because you were not "presumed to be the biological father" at the time of your bio child's adoption.
More info on this in particular on [URL="http://www.floridabar.org/tfb/tfbconsum.nsf/48e76203493b82ad852567090070c9b9/40018bdf1f308fe985256b2f006c5c11?opendocument#GENERAL%20INFORMATION%20ABOUT%20ADOPTIO"]Adoption in Florida[/URL].
To be honest - I feel for you, as my non-identifying information from the state of NY indicates that my biological father was never informed that my biological mother was pregnant, or that she subsequently relinquished me for adoption. At the time, the rights of the biological mother did in fact outweigh any rights that a biological father might have had. As unfortunate as that may be, that's a fact, and I imagine that you'd end up spending a lot of money to get nowhere if you sued.
You can, however, register with the FL adoption reunion registry once you verify paternity [I am assuming] and if that's the case, then you may be able to one day have the opportunity to meet your biological child.
Rights and responsibilities of an unmarried
biological father and information about
the Putative Father Registry
A biological father has the primary responsibility to protect his rights and is presumed to know that his child may be adopted without his consent unless he
complies with the provisions of Florida law and
demonstrates a prompt and full commitment to his parental responsibilities.
If an unmarried biological father fails to take actions to establish a relationship with his child, his parental interests may be lost entirely or greatly diminished by his failure to timely comply with the available legal steps to substantiate a parental interest.
The interests of the mother, the child and the adoptive parents outweigh the interest of an unmarried biological father who does not take action in a timely manner to establish and maintain a relationship with his child in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
For example, although there are exceptions, an unmarried biological father must register his paternity with Floridas Putative Father Registry; otherwise, the court will not require his consent before proceeding to complete an adoption plan. An unmarried biological father must register his paternity prior to the filing of a petition to terminate his rights or within 30 days of service of a Notice of Intended Adoption Plan. The adoption entity involved with the placement is required to serve a known and locatable unmarried biological father with a Notice of Intended Adoption plan that advises him of FloridaҒs Putative Father Registry and the steps he must take to avoid a default and waiver of any claim of rights to the child.
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mom2bemore
I'm definately not saying things were done right but part of this just doesnt make sense to me.
How is it that you say you looked for him for 10 years but you said if the state had looked for you they would have found you?
Shouldnt you have been involved or paying child support?
Have you tried finding out whom adopted your son and seeing if they are willing to have a somewhat open relationship? I'm assuming your son is a teen now so I'm guessing alot of that woudl depend on how a teen would feel suddenly having you present.
I am sorry for your circumstances and hope you are able to find an agreeable solution. If I am ever in the opportunity to adopt a child I plan to make sure the father is found regardless of if I have to hire a separate investigator myself. thank you for bringing this to light.