Seriously? What Parental Rights?
By DEACON MIKE MANNO, JD A case came across my desk the other day that reminded me of an op-ed I wrote for The Des Moines Register some twenty-five years ago. In the op-ed I defended a controversial decision of the Iowa Supreme Court in a custody dispute between the child’s “adoptive” parents and her biological father. The gist of the case involved the efforts of an unmarried father to obtain custody of his child given up for adoption without notification to him. The “adoptive” family had custody of the infant pending adoption proceedings in which the father intervened when he was finally notified of the action. The court found the adoption proceeding flawed and ordered that the child be…Continue Reading