Readers of this New Jersey Family Law blog may know that we have been following what has become known as the Baby Veronica case. This case is a complicated child custody dispute that stemmed from the adoption of a baby four years ago.

The baby girl was put up for adoption by her unmarried mother at birth, and she was adopted by a couple in another state. Soon thereafter, the girl’s biological father came forward to assert his right to custody. A very long court battle followed, involving complex applications of federal and state family laws.

Although the biological father had not asserted his parental rights prior to the adoption, he argued that he still had a right to custody under a federal law that was designed to keep Native American children in their Native American families and tribes.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the law did not apply to this case because the biological father did not have physical or legal custody of the child at the time of the adoption. The adoption has been upheld by the court.

The biological father of the girl, however, has not returned her to the adoptive parents, and has not participated in a plan designed to help transition the girl into the custody of the adoptive parents.

The governor of Oklahoma, where the Native American father and daughter reside, has ordered that the father be extradited to South Carolina, where the adoptive parents live, as he has allegedly disobeyed a court order.

While this case is very complicated, at its core is the fact that unwed fathers do not automatically have parental rights under federal law. A man that is married to a woman at the time she gives birth is presumed by law to be that child’s father. Unwed fathers, however, generally must establish paternity as well as show a commitment to parenting the child in order to obtain parental rights – including the right to object to an adoption.

Source: CNN, “Oklahoma orders extradition of birth father in Native American custody battle,” Christopher Laible and Randi Kaye, Sept. 5, 2013