Monty S. v. Jason W.
Annotate this CaseTwo days after Teresa S. gave birth to an infant, Teresa and Monty S., the infant’s biological father, each signed separate documents relinquishing their parental rights to the child and consenting to the child’s adoption by Jason W. and Rebecca W., the friends of Teresa and Monty. The parties had previously agreed to an “open” adoption. Nearly one year later, Teresa and Monty (together, Petitioners) filed a petition for habeas corpus seeking return of the child. As grounds for the writ, Petitioners alleged that their consents and relinquishments were invalid due to fraud, duress, and the failure to present the nonconsent adoption forms prior to signing the relinquishments. The district court rejected all of Petitioners’ allegations but nevertheless invalidated the relinquishments, concluding that the parties’ plan for an “open” adoption invalidated the relinquishments as conditioned upon the retention of some parental rights. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the district court did not err in (1) excluding evidence of post relinquishment visits by Petitioners and why those visits were discontinued; and (2) concluding that the consents were conditioned upon the retention of parental rights and were therefore invalid.
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