Biological dad returns 4-year-old Veronica to adoptive parents

[StevieM]

174. He did make it known to the mother that he intended to be part of his daughter's life

He never relinquished his parental rights--he thought he was relinquishing custody. And the mother deliberately worded her text that way, in order to lay the ground work for TPRing him against his wishes. If she wanted child support, she could have easily gotten it. The mother, the Capobiancos and their attorney were already laying the groundwork to deny him his daughter--as proven by the fact that they deliberately sought to evade the ICWA.

If you think that SC law makes it easy for a father to have the same rights as a mother, and not be TPRed against his wishes, then I have a bridge that I would like to sell you. That link you put up says it all: "he only retains those rights if he is actively involved in the birth mother's pregnancy and assertively makes his desire to be a father known." If the mother denies him the right to be involved in the pregnancy, as Christie did, then that is it for the dad--he is out of luck. Dusten tried to MARRY the mother--but that isn't good enough. If she wants him out, then he is out. And who defines what constitutes "assertively"? The state--the pro-adoption state. Dusten had no shot with these people. Apparently, the mother and the adopters felt that he was assertive enough that they deliberately sought to evade the IWCA.