Adoption of Baby Doe
| Decision Date | 21 July 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 85-1232,85-1232 |
| Citation | 492 So.2d 508 |
| Parties | ADOPTION OF BABY DOE. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
James E. Beal, Natchitoches, for defendant-appellant.
Poteet and Landry, John G. Poteet, Jr., Lafayette, for plaintiffs-appellees.
Before LABORDE, YELVERTON and FONTENOT *, JJ.
Baby Doe, an illegitimate, was born in Iberia General Hospital, Iberia Parish, on June 20, 1985. The unmarried mother of the child had agreed that she would surrender the child to the Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Lafayette, Inc. for adoption. Before a formal surrender was accomplished, however, a notarial act of acknowledgement was recorded in Iberia Parish on July 3, 1985 by the respondent herein asserting that he was the father of the child. The surrender by the mother was executed and, subsequently, a petition by the agency mentioned above was filed on July 15, 1985 seeking an approval to place the child for adoption. The respondent filed an opposition to the petition and reconvened for custody in his own right. After a hearing, the trial court dismissed respondent's opposition. In written reasons, the court said that the respondent had "forfeited his right to object to the adoption because of a judicial determination of unfitness." The court also ruled that the child should be placed for adoption on a finding that it was in the child's best interest.
The first question presented to the court is whether the respondent had standing to object to the petition filed by the agency: In that regard, the controlling statute is L.S.A.-R.S. 9:422.14. It reads in pertinent part:
The two paragraphs quoted above provide for the prerequisite acknowledgement to be made in one of two alternate ways. Either the father can sign the birth certificate as a father or he may execute an authentic act of acknowledgement. If the second method is employed, the act must be recorded in the office of the clerk of court in the parish in which the child is born. In the event that the second method is used, there is no need for the father to sign or otherwise to acknowledge paternity on the birth certificate. The reference to recordation "on the child's birth certificate" made in the first sentence of Subsection B is to the acknowledgement accomplished by signing the certificate. Acknowledgement by authentic act is treated separately in the last sentence of Subsection B. The two methods are independent and are not to be confused. The execution of the authentic act by the respondent herein and its timely recordation in the Parish of Iberia fulfilled the requirements of the cited statute.
Some uncertainty about this interpretation arises because no mention is made of the authentic act method of acknowledgement "to secure the father's right" in the first sentence of Subsection B. However, the sentence should be read to include the alternate method or else the steps regarding the filing of an authentic act detailed in the second sentence of that subsection would be meaningless for the purpose of this statute. A statute should be interpreted so as to give meaning to all of its parts. State v. Williams, 449 So.2d 744 (La.App.3rd Cir.1984) writ denied, 452 So.2d 172. Among other possible reasons, the alternate approach is provided for fathers who are prevented from signing or are not available for signature (as was the respondent herein) at the time that the birth certificate is prepared and filed. See L.S.A.-R.S. 40:43 et seq. Granting the same legal efficacy to both methods is a reasonable construction which gives the entire statute a unified and coherent import. Johnston v. Morehouse Parish Police Jury, 424 So.2d 1053 (La.App. 2nd Cir.1982) writ denied, 427 So.2d 1208.
Having concluded that the respondent established his right to oppose the adoption through compliance with the aforesaid statute, the court must address the questions of whether the trial court employed the correct principles in its determination and whether its findings are correct under the proper standards of review.
Respondent stresses that the use of the "best interest" test for this case is improper. He urges that an acknowledging father should have the parental rights and powers enjoyed by the father of a legitimate child. To support this position, respondent selected language from earlier cases which we find, after close analysis, to be inapposite. Although the cited cases speak of the rights of natural parents, a review of the facts in those cases disclose that the children involved were of legitimate status. Cantrell v. Talley, 291 So.2d 462 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1974); In Interest of Street, 463 So.2d 1373 (La.App. 1st Cir.1984), writ denied, 466 So.2d 1300 (La.1985). If the language of those cases was meant to encompass all parent-child relationships, legitimate and illegitimate, then the statements were dicta.
Respondent also relies upon the case of Cawthorne v. Williams, 313 So.2d 915 (La.App. 2nd Cir.1975). In that case the mother of an illegitimate child was competing with non-parents for the rights of custody. That case cannot be authority for respondent's position. First, the language is dictum because the mother was unsuccessful in obtaining custody of the child on the facts. Second, a significant difference is recognized between the rights of a mother relating to an illegitimate child and the rights of a male whose acknowledgement is not concurred in by the natural mother. La.C.C. Art. 256. Collins v. Division of Foster Care, Jefferson Parish, Family Division, 377 So.2d 1266 (La.App. 4th Cir.1979). It has been held by the United States Supreme Court that a state may accord two biological parents different legal rights without violating the equal protection clause. Lehr v. Robertson, 463 U.S. 248, 103 S.Ct. 2985, 77 L.Ed.2d 614 (1983).
This case is also distinguishable from Deville v. LaGrange, 388 So.2d 696 (La. 1980). In that case, the mother of the illegitimate was deceased and the contest was between a natural father and grandparents. In this case, the mother has surrendered the child for adoption and has not concurred in the father's acknowledgement. In fact, she aligns herself in opposition to the respondent.
There is no statutory basis for finding that the "right to oppose" an adoption found in R.S. 9:422.14 should grant to a natural father the rights of the father of a legitimate child. The statute should be read to mean what it says; it does not purport to have the sweeping effect urged by respondent. If the legislature had desired such a change, it would have used a more direct approach. The statute simply allows a natural father to be heard on the issue of adoption if he has fulfilled certain requirements.
An analogy illustrating that the right to oppose an adoption is not equated with the right to veto through the withholding of consent is seen in the related statutes R.S. 9:422.10 and 422.11. These latter provisions deal with the right of a parent, who has executed a formal act of surrender, to oppose an adoption after the surrender has been revoked. It is explicit that, in the event of opposition by a parent who has surrendered and then revoked surrender, the criterion of best interest of the child is to be used by the court on an adoption question. This court has already recognized that in the case of In re G.O., 433 So.2d 1115, 1117 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1983) wherein it was said:
"This right to revoke consent has the limited effect of giving the surrendering parent or parents standing to oppose the adoption."
Thus, respondent's standing gave him the right to be heard in the judicial determination made of the child's best interest; this included the right to seek custody for himself. See Creppel v. Thornton, 230 So.2d 644 (La.App. 4th Cir.1970). Respondent did not have the power, accorded to parents of a legitimate child, to defeat the adoption by the mere withholding of consent. See Adoption of Kitler v. Kitler, 445 So.2d 202 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1984), writ denied, 447 So.2d 1069 (La.1984).
The trial court applied the correct standard and found that the adoption was in the best interest of the child. In further finding that the best interest of the child would not be served by making the respondent custodian of the child, the court recited in the reasons for judgment that the respondent was unmarried, had no other children, was immature and suffered from drug and behavioral problems. It was further noted that respondent's relationship with the mother of the child and with respondent's own father had been marked by violent and inappropriate responses. The respondent had never seen the infant and had established no bond with the child. There appears to be no error in the trial court's conclusion that the respondent had shown no capability of caring for a minor child. Also considered was that the mother of the child, an honor student at a state university, had been motivated to place the child for...
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