Can A Mentally Disturbed Woman Be Forced To Give Her Unborn Child Up For Adoption?
I have conceived a child with a woman who has a history of severe depression and suicide attempts. She has no job, no savings, no education, and lives with her parents. And yet she refuses to consider giving the child up for adoption.
Is is possible, in the state of Missouri, to force a woman with documented suicidal tendencies and no livelihood to give her unborn child up for adoption?
Tags: Adoption, Child, Disturbed, Forced, Give, Mentally, Unborn, Woman
February 3rd, 2010 at 7:27 PM
No. If she becomes abusive or neglectful after birth, DHS may become involved. She will be given a case plan. If she does not follow through with her case plan, her child will eventually be put up for adoption. If you step in and take care of your child in the event that s/he is removed for abuse or neglect, adoption won’t be necessary. But all those things are far down the road, and just because someone is depressed, that doesn’t mean they’re going to abuse their child.
February 3rd, 2010 at 7:29 PM
Yes, this can and does happen. If you and/or CPS can show that the child will be in imminent danger (i.e. abuse and/or neglect) from the mother then the state/judge can remove the child. The mother is given a chance to prove she can care for the child by holding down a job, keeping her house clean, taking her medications, and meeting other goal set for you by the court. It is a long process and different states have different standards, it will likely take a year, and a lot of legal hurdles, for it to happen.
The real question is “is it right?” If you believe that the child WILL suffer harm because of the mother’s behavior, then you are right to act. If you are just trying to avoid paying child support and taking responsibility, then you are an ******.
Frankly, as the father, you should take responsibility and ask for custody.
February 4th, 2010 at 12:27 AM
This question disgusts me.
Before you attempt to use the legal system to force this poor woman’s child away from her, i want you to know that if she is so incompetent that she can not raise her child, even with family assistance and a support system, chances are she can not legally consent to sex. Which equals rape. Nice going.
So, you might want to keep your trap shut and get saving for that child support, UNLESS there is in fact a very real issue or threat of abuse. Since the child isn’t born yet, I don’t think that’s a concern.
February 4th, 2010 at 5:37 AM
I have not read the other questions….but….
an unborn child cannot be given up for adoption because the child has not been born yet.
When the baby is born, if there are risks to the child, then someone needs to call CPS. If her parents are able and willing to provide a safe home for the child, then that is a possibility.
Also, this could get tough for her because it is not advisable for a pregnant woman to take psychotropic medication so their symptoms tend to get worse.
What are your plans?? Do you want your child?? If so, then petition the courts to take custody as soon as the baby is born……the paperwork would just need to be ready to file so you could make that motion when it is time.
Good luck, this is a tough one.
ETA:
Haha, those of you who are crying rape…..know this- Mentally unstable parents find themselves in contact with CPS often….becasue they have a multitude of children (cannot force mentally ill people to use b/control) and MANY of the children in custody are there because their parents were TOO UNSTABLE to make rational choices without being a MAJOR risk to the child/ren. They can consent to sex……Mentally retarded people can consent to SEX and you cannot make them use b/control…..imagine that!!
Goodness…..
So, I think this fella is asking about the welfare of his child in regards to the mom being MENTALLY UNSTABLE……I did not read it as if her were trying to swindle the mom out of her child becasue he was trying to skirt around his parental duties. Perhaps it has not dawned on him that HE CAN gain custody of his child…..
Give it a DAMN break people…..
February 4th, 2010 at 5:52 AM
If a strong enough case can be made to a court they may consider it although the bar is set pretty high. The fact that she lives with her parents, and therefore has supports in place to assist if needed and to watch over both her and the child, will work in her favour I would think.
February 4th, 2010 at 12:52 PM
if the child is in danger than you need to call social services. However, know that they will look for the father of the child first to take responsibility. Hmmm…that would be you wouldn’t it?
Why are you not taking this child?
Why would you “conceive a child” with someone who possibly should not even be making desisions to have sex with someone, let alone parent a child?
Perhaps you should have been getting her help instead of getting into her bed.
February 4th, 2010 at 6:54 PM
You cannot force a woman to give up her unborn child for adoption. That is illegal, unethical, and immoral. You can, however, do your best to help the mentally disturbed woman seek counseling and treatment for her mental illness.
February 4th, 2010 at 10:26 PM
No they can’t. maybe having her baby will help her see there is something worth living for. If you try and take her baby from her, it could make matters worse. Maybe set something up to have a family member help her until she’s stable enough to do it or her own. I’m sure her parents will help her.
Now, that said, man up and stop trying to dodge your responsbilities. That babys going to need you to be there.
February 5th, 2010 at 1:45 AM
Im in australia and I dont know but You should definately look into this. Maybe you could file for custody then put the child up for adoption if thats what you want. And another thing, surely there has got to be a better place for you to put your dick in the future..
February 5th, 2010 at 4:27 AM
If you wanted to man up you could probably get custody but it sounds to me like you are just trying to get out of child support and if mommy and daddy get a lawyer for her so they can keep their grand kid any judge will think you are just trying to get out of the child support as well.
February 5th, 2010 at 9:00 AM
I think if you take it to a judge. She might be considered an unfit parent, and have her child taken away from her. Or even a danger to herself, and put in a hospital…this happened to my mother once, but she came home 72hrs later with medication, and therapy. =/
February 5th, 2010 at 1:48 PM
Lesson #1: Keep your pants zipped if you don’t want to start a family.
If she’s that “bad,” what you doing sleeping with her?
Maybe it’s time to get yourself a better job because you’re going to have child support to pay.
February 5th, 2010 at 2:14 PM
First, if you aren’t married, you don’t have any rights until the baby is born and you are proved the father with a paternity test.
Once the baby is born and you can prove it’s also your child, you could petition the courts to have her declared incompetent to make her own decisions regarding her baby. If a judge finds enough evidence to go forward with an incompetentcy hearing, then the evidence would be presented in court from both sides and the judge would make a ruling of whether or not she is competent to raise the child.
IF she is found incompetent, then the court would appoint a guardian for the baby. That could be you, a relative, or family friend. If there is no one willing and able to take custody, they could place the child into the foster child system, which is not a good place to be.
However, you probably couldn’t get custody only to place the baby up for adoption, nor are the courts likely to force an adoption. Parental rights are extremely hard to terminate, even when there are good reasons to do so, and in the case of adoption require consent of both parents, unless the father is unknown.
If the baby is placed in the foster care system and the mother won’t terminate parental rights, then the child will spend it’s whole life in foster care, or until the mother is able to prove she is competent to resume custody, or someone else petitions the courts for custody and proves they are competent to have custody.
Even if your girlfriend is found to be mentally disturbed to the point she can’t care for the child, the courts will appoint someone to be her power of attorney to make decisions for her until she is well enough to resume control of her own affairs, and most likely her guardian would take her wishes into consideration.
There is no law against poverty, and she couldn’t be forced to give up her child just because she doesn’t have a job. There are thousands of unemployed moms, (or dads for that matter). There are millions of parents with no formal education who manage to support their families somehow, even if it’s with a menial minimum wage job. There are welfare programs that would help her out with medical expenses and support for herself and the baby until she gets on her feet financially if she needs it. Or you could be responsible for your own actions and help support your child. She didn’t make the baby by herself.
If she lives with her parents, she also has a demonstratable support system in place, which would probably be in her favor, not a detriment in a court hearing.
Depression and past suicide attempts also do not necessarily prove she is incompetent to raise a child.
A great deal of her depression probably stems from your unwillingness to accept your own parental role. Unless her suicide attempts were truly life threatening on a grand scale, or you can prove other underlying mental illness, or she’s been or likely to be a danger to others, that is probably a minor detail. Anyway, the courts aren’t likely to be concerned with events that occurred before the baby was born, unless they harmed the baby.
Even when parents beat their kids and break bones, the courts give them multiple chances to get councilling and improve their parenting skills before terminating parental rights. The laws are in the mother’s favor.
Everyone gets depressed from time to time, so unless her depression is so debilitating that she can’t care for her own day to day needs, it probably wont make her an unfit parent, either.
Unless she actually does something to harm the baby, you would probably just be wasting your money hiring lawyers.
February 5th, 2010 at 5:28 PM
If she’s that bad off….her family could have you prosecuted for violating her.
If her parents step up and support her….you have no chance in forcing her to place her child up for adoption.
February 5th, 2010 at 7:17 PM
No. You can’t get out of your responsibilities by badmouthing the mother of your child.
Step up to the plate and raise your child.
February 5th, 2010 at 10:09 PM
You really need to talk to a lawyer or police about the regulations on this matter. No answer at Yahoo can guarantee you the accuracy you need for this critically important question.
cw
February 6th, 2010 at 12:01 AM
Sounds like you’re trying to use adoption to avoid taking responsiblity for your actions.
Be a man, own up to your duty to care for your child.
February 6th, 2010 at 3:19 AM
I doubt it.
They can’t make anyone have an abortion so why could they make them give it up for adoption?
But if your concerned you could call social services after the babys born and get yourself custody.
February 6th, 2010 at 9:40 AM
Doubt it. Perhaps you could just petition to have custody. Or call child protective services when the child is born if she actually appears to be an unfit mother.
February 6th, 2010 at 9:58 AM
no but they’ll prolly have the child live with another family member instead. i cant imagine forcing a woman to give her baby for adoption
February 6th, 2010 at 3:45 PM
Oh my heavens I hope so!!! And YOU why are you exploiting this poor woman?! You are a monster creating life to fulfill your urges and destroying this poor womans life. You should be absolutely ashamed of yourself!!!!
February 6th, 2010 at 4:22 PM
Marry her.
February 6th, 2010 at 7:30 PM
if its your kid why aint you got it taking care of it like a father should
February 7th, 2010 at 2:23 AM
couldn’t get her to get an abortion huh? i guess thats what you get for doing a retard.