Dear Lawyer Mark:

My girlfriend and I broke up a couple months ago, and she’s getting engaged. We dated for a year, but it just didn’t work out.

The problem is she is seven months pregnant with my kid.

She doesn’t want anything to do with me. She won’t even talk to me anymore even though I was good to her.

But I want to see my kid when it is being born.

She said I can’t be there when she has the baby. She won’t put me on the birth certificate. And she wants me to sign my rights away to her.

I’ve got an OK job and will pay support, but can she keep me from seeing my kid when it’s born and visiting after?

Dad to Be

 

Dear Dad:

You will end up seeing your child, but it may not be until after a court procedure.

Under state laws and hospital procedures, the mother giving birth gets to determine who is in the birthing room, as well as who gets to visit the child. Under Ohio law, a mother giving birth out of wedlock is the custodial parent of that child until a court decides otherwise.

Because your ex is refusing to allow you to acknowledge paternity, you will need to bring a paternity action after the child is born.

You may file the paternity suit in the juvenile division of the court of common pleas.

If she denies that you are the father, the court will order a DNA test to be performed. The court will order that samples from you and the child be analyzed to determine whether you are the biological father of the child.

If the DNA results show that you are, the court will formally declare you to be the parent of the child, and will then go on to set up child support and a visitation schedule.

There are two other things you raised that you should be aware of.

First, you cannot “sign your rights away” to a child in Ohio.

Legal parentage can only be taken away in two instances.

In the first instance, the juvenile court can award permanent custody to the state under certain circumstances, such as when a parent is unable or unwilling to care for the child. In the other instance, the probate court can grant an adoption to someone seeking to adopt the child.

In both of these cases, the rights of the parents are severed, and legally they have no relationship to the child afterward.

The second thing you should be aware of is the “Ohio Putative Father Registry.”

This registry allows you to be notified if she tries to adopt out the child to keep him or her away from you before you file your paternity action, so that you can let the court know you don’t want the adoption to happen.

You may register for it online before the child is born, or within 15 days after the child is born.

If you believe that she will try to adopt out the child (including to a new husband), you should go ahead and register now at https://pfr-pub.jfs.ohio.gov.

Thought for the Week: “It is a wise father that knows his own child.” – William Shakespeare

It’s The Law is written by attorney Mark K. McCown in response to legal questions received by him. If you have a question, please forward it to Mark K. McCown, 311 Park Avenue, Ironton, Ohio 45638, or e-mail it to him at LawyerMark@yahoo.com. The right to condense and/or edit all questions is reserved.