In re Adoption of Baby B.
Annotate this CaseAppellant Robert Manzanares and Carie Terry conceived a child in Colorado. Appellant filed a paternity action in Colorado, seeking to enjoin any adoption proceeding. In Utah, a couple signed a petition for the adoption of Terry's baby. After the baby was born, the couple filed their adoption petition. Meanwhile, a Colorado court granted Appellant's petition for paternity. Appellant then filed in Utah a motion to dismiss the couple's adoption petition. The district court eventually terminated Appellant's parental rights in his biological daughter, Baby B., holding that Appellant's consent to the adoption was not required under Utah law. The court based this conclusion on a finding that Appellant either knew or through reasonable diligence could have known of at least one of several qualifying circumstances defined by Utah law. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the district court's conclusions ran counter to a proper understanding of the relevant statute and were unsupported by the evidence. Remanded for further findings regarding (1) whether Appellant fully complied with Colorado's requirements to establish his parental rights in Baby B. and to preserve the right to notice of a Colorado adoption proceeding, and (2) whether Appellant demonstrated a full commitment to his parental responsibilities.
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