Birth Fathers’ Rights

Information & Support for Birth Fathers

At Catholic Charities we believe in supplying the support services to fathers just like we do with mothers and families. You have the right to actively participate in the process and know your rights as a father. Below are some steps that can be taken. Know this is not legal advice. If you need legal advice you may consult with an attorney to further your knowledge of your rights toward your specific situation.

You Can be Involved

There are many times when men are involved in the planning of the adoption process.

If you wish to parent your child, we, at Catholic Charities can help you connect with resources to guide you in the right direction such as financial assistance, parenting resources, baby items, and more.

If you choose to be in the process of making an adoption plan, you can make many of the choices that the mother does. This can include the type of adoption, looking through adoptive couple profiles, meeting potential adoptive families, making an agreed upon decision on the best adoptive family for your child and creating an agreement that both parties agree upon with ongoing contact. This plan can be made with the expectant mother or separately depending what is comfortable with all parties involved.

Minnesota Father’s Adoption Registry

The Minnesota Father’s Adoption Registry provides a means by which a father can register to protect his rights to be notified of his child’s pending or future adoption. The registry is for potential fathers who have not established paternity and who are not married to the mother of their child. The potential father must register no later than 30 days after the birth of the child.

Learn More and Access Registration Forms: https://www.health.state.mn.us/people/vitalrecords/registry/index.html

Becoming a Legal Father

If you are not married to the mother of your child, there are steps you can take to become a legal father. When a child is born to unmarried parents, the father’s parentage can be established by:

• Signing the Recognition of Parentage; by doing so, both parents are stating that they both agree that the man is the biological father of the child and that they both want him to be the child’s legal father.
• Either one or both parents can ask the court to enter an order finding that the man is the legal father of the child. This will establish both rights and responsibilities for the father. These rights and responsibilities may include scheduled parenting time as well as child support paid by the non-custodial parent.
• The parents can marry after the child is born and sign an affidavit that is filed with the Office of the State Registrar.

Every child has a biological father, but not all children have legal fathers. A legal father is the man who the law recognizes as the father of the child. When married couples have a child, the law automatically recognizes the husband as the child’s legal father and parentage does not need to be established. But if the child’s mother is not married at the time of the child’s birth, the child does not automatically have a legal father.

We care about you and will be sensitive, caring and welcoming, regardless of your circumstances. We serve people of all faiths and we have Pregnancy, Parenting and Adoption Social Workers in Winona, Rochester, Mankato and Worthington to assist you during your pregnancy. We also travel everywhere in between!

You can reach us 24/7 at 507-287-7807, or you can send us an email.