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ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT
Bryan H. Babb Kelly M. Scanlan Bose McKinney & Evans LLP Indianapolis, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEES
Michael P. Bishop Heather Wysong Zaiger Cohen Garelick & Glazier PC Indianapolis, Indiana

______________________________________________________________________________

Indiana Supreme Court
_________________________________ No. 03S04-0810-CV-560 IN RE ADOPTION OF UNBORN CHILD OF B.W. W.G., v.

In the

Jun 26 2009, 3:28 pm

FILED
of the supreme court, court of appeals and tax court

CLERK

Appellant-Petitioner,

D.B. AND J.B., Appellees-Respondents. _________________________________ Appeal from the Bartholomew Superior Court, No. 03D01-0609-AD-1774 The Honorable Chris D. Monroe, Judge _________________________________ On Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 03A04-0802-CV-107 _________________________________ June 26, 2009 Dickson, Justice. The question presented is whether the appellant biological father's1 consent to the adoption of his child was irrevocably implied when he failed to file a motion to contest in the adoption court but did take concurrent steps to establish paternity and preserve and assert his parental rights in another court. Upon our consideration of the asserted statutory provisions and the facts of this case, we find that this appellant father's actions did not irrevocably imply his consent,

1

Pursuant to Indiana Administrative Rule 9(G)(4)(d), this opinion avoids reference to the names of the parties and affected persons.

upon which the adoption decree was predicated, and thus reverse the judgment of the trial court.

The relevant facts are not in dispute. In 2006 the unmarried father, W.G., and mother, B.W., shared a brief relationship during which they conceived a child. After the mother expressed a desire to place the unborn child for adoption, the father registered with Indiana's Putative2 Father Registry.3 At some point during the pregnancy, the mother contacted an adoption agency, LDS Family Services, and an interested couple was found. The mother executed preand post-birth forms giving consent for the adoptive parents, D.B. and J.B., to have temporary custody of the child, pending the outcome of the adoption proceedings.

In late September 2006, shortly before the child's anticipated birth, the adoptive parents filed an adoption petition in Bartholomew County Superior Court ("the Superior Court"). The petition alleged, among other things, that the appellant was the child's biological father and was currently incarcerated in the county jail. Appellant's App'x at 8,

Download In Re Adoption of Unborn Child of B.W.; W.G. v. D.B. & J.B..pdf

Indiana Law