2021 Georgia Code
Title 19 - Domestic Relations
Chapter 8 - Adoption
Article 1 - General Provisions
§ 19-8-9. Revocation of Surrender of Rights; Time Limit; Effect of Voluntary Surrender of Rights by Legal Mother

1. Notwithstanding subsection (a) of Code Section 9-10-12 which authorizes the use of certified mail, an individual signing a surrender of rights pursuant to Code Section 19-8-4, 19-8-5, 19-8-6, or 19-8-7 shall have the right to revoke such surrender by written notice delivered in person or mailed by registered mail or statutory overnight delivery within four days after signing such surrender; and such surrender document shall not be valid unless it so states. The four-day revocation period shall be counted consecutively beginning with the day immediately following the date the surrender of rights is executed; provided, however, that, if the fourth day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, then the last day on which such surrender may be revoked shall be the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. After the four-day period, a surrender of rights cannot be revoked. Notwithstanding subsection (a) of Code Section 9-10-12 which authorizes the use of certified mail, the notice of revocation of a surrender of rights shall be delivered in person or mailed by registered mail or statutory overnight delivery to the address designated in the surrender document. If delivered in person, it shall be delivered to the address shown in the surrender document not later than 5:00 P.M. eastern standard time or eastern daylight time, whichever is applicable, on the fourth day. If mailed by registered mail or delivered by statutory overnight delivery, it shall be addressed to the address shown in the surrender document and submitted to the United States Postal Service or to the statutory overnight delivery carrier not later than 12:00 Midnight eastern standard time or eastern daylight time, whichever is applicable, on the fourth day.
2. If a legal mother has either voluntarily and in writing surrendered all of her parental rights pursuant to Code Section 19-8-4, 19-8-5, 19-8-6, or 19-8-7 or pursuant to the corresponding provisions of the laws of another state, and has not revoked her surrender as allowed by applicable law, or has had her parental rights involuntarily terminated by a court of competent jurisdiction, she shall have no right or authority to sign a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity pursuant to Code Section 19-7-46.1 or consent to the granting of a petition for legitimation filed pursuant to Code Section 19-7-22 regarding the same child.

(Code 1981, §19-8-9, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 1572, § 5; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1589, § 4; Ga. L. 2007, p. 342, § 7/HB 497; Ga. L. 2016, p. 304, § 13/SB 64; Ga. L. 2018, p. 19, § 1-1/HB 159; Ga. L. 2021, p. 151, § 4/HB 154.)

The 2016 amendment, effective July 1, 2016, deleted "either a voluntary acknowledgment of legitimation pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (2) of subsection (g) of Code Section 19-7-22 or" following "authority to sign" in subsection (b) (formerly subsection (c)).

The 2018 amendment, effective September 1, 2018, deleted former subsection (a), which read: "In those cases where the legal mother of the child being placed for adoption has herself previously adopted such child, said adoptive mother shall execute, in lieu of the affidavit specified in subsection (g) of Code Section 19-8-4, 19-8-5, 19-8-6, or 19-8-7, an affidavit meeting the requirements of subsection (i) of Code Section 19-8-26."; redesignated former subsection (b) as present subsection (a); substituted the present provisions of subsection (a) for the former provisions, which read: "A person signing a surrender pursuant to Code Section 19-8-4, 19-8-5, 19-8-6, or 19-8-7 shall have the right to withdraw the surrender by written notice delivered in person or mailed by registered mail or statutory overnight delivery within ten days after signing; and the surrender document shall not be valid unless it so states. The ten days shall be counted consecutively beginning with the day immediately following the date the surrender is executed, however, if the tenth day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday then the last day on which the surrender may be withdrawn shall be the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. After ten days, a surrender may not be withdrawn. The notice of withdrawal of surrender shall be delivered in person or mailed by registered mail or statutory overnight delivery to the address designated in the surrender document."; redesignated former subsection (c) as present subsection (b); and substituted the present provisions of subsection (b) for the former provisions, which read: "If a legal mother has voluntarily and in writing surrendered all of her parental rights pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of Code Section 19-8-4, 19-8-5, 19-8-6, or 19-8-7 and has not withdrawn her surrender within the ten-day period after signing as permitted by the provisions of subsection (b) of this Code section, she shall have no right or authority to sign a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity pursuant to the provisions of Code Section 19-7-46.1 regarding the same child."

The 2021 amendment, effective July 1, 2021, added the last sentence of subsection (a); and rewrote subsection (b), which read: "If a legal mother has voluntarily and in writing surrendered all of her parental rights pursuant to Code Section 19-8-4, 19-8-5, 19-8-6, or 19-8-7 and has not revoked her surrender within the four-day period after signing as permitted by subsection (a) of this Code section, she shall have no right or authority to sign a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity pursuant to Code Section 19-7-46.1 or consent to the granting of a petition for legitimation filed pursuant to Code Section 19-7-22 regarding the same child."

- Ga. L. 2016, p. 304, § 18/SB 64, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "This Act shall not be construed to affect a voluntary acknowledgment of legitimation that was valid under the former provisions of Code Section 19-7-21.1, nor any of the rights or responsibilities flowing therefrom, if it was executed on or before June 30, 2016."

- For article, "Who is Georgia's Mother? Gestational Surrogacy: A Formulation for Georgia's Legislature," see 38 Ga. L. Rev. 395 (2003).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Revocation of consent.

- Even though revocation of consent may be allowed more than ten days after consent is given, when the mother had acted freely and voluntarily and the trial court found her competent, the court did not err in finding that she failed to establish good and sufficient cause to void the surrender. Schumacher v. Sexton, 216 Ga. App. 628, 455 S.E.2d 348 (1995).

Parent may not revoke his or her valid surrender after 10 days; such limitation does not limit the right of a surrendering parent to establish that there was no valid, voluntary consent given initially. In re B.G.D., 224 Ga. App. 124, 479 S.E.2d 439 (1996).

Parent seeking to withdraw consent to adoption after 10 days must show duress, fraud, or incapacity, and then, as with all contracts, the consent is invalidated and the surrender becomes voidable. Hicks v. Stargel, 226 Ga. App. 639, 487 S.E.2d 428 (1997).

Mother did not revoke her surrender within the 10 days provided under O.C.G.A. § 19-8-9(b) (now (a)), and a later attempt to revoke her surrender was ineffective; without the transcript of the trial, the appellate court assumed that the evidence supported the trial court's factual finding that the mother showed no cause for invalidating the surrender. Ueal v. AAA Ptnrs. in Adoption, Inc., 269 Ga. App. 258, 603 S.E.2d 672 (2004).

- Based upon newly discovered evidence that the caseworker of a parent who surrendered parental rights was a friend of the foster parents and had engaged in fraud and other illegalities, the trial court properly restored the parent's parental rights pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 15-11-40(a)(3). Thus, O.C.G.A. § 19-8-9, requiring a parent to revoke a surrender within 10 days, did not prevent the surrenders from being voidable. In the Interest of K.W., 291 Ga. App. 623, 662 S.E.2d 255, cert. dismissed, No. S08C1642, 2008 Ga. LEXIS 767 (Ga. 2008).

- Even though the mother was under emotional and financial pressure when she made the decision to surrender her parental rights, that pressure did not constitute legal duress. Mabou v. Eller, 232 Ga. App. 635, 502 S.E.2d 760 (1998).

Cited in In the Interest of T.C.D., 281 Ga. App. 517, 636 S.E.2d 704 (2006).