A Colorado father is continuing to fight for custody of his five-year-old daughter, a fight that is ongoing and not without its setbacks. In 2008, his girlfriend learned she was pregnant with his child. She then moved to Utah where she quickly signed over her parental rights to her family who adopted the child. This was done without the biological father's knowledge or consent.
He had filed for paternal rights over his child and had every intention of raising her himself. A judge in Colorado ruled that both the adoptive family and biological family would be granted shared custody. By this time, the child was already four-years-old and was living with her adoptive family in Utah. The father went to Utah many times to get to know his daughter.
This past week, a Denver judge ordered the child to be in her biological father's life, as well as his family's, who lives in Albuquerque. A trip for the child was planned, and her fathers' parents were excited to finally meet their grandchild. When he traveled to Utah to meet his daughter and fly back to Albuquerque, he noticed apprehension in the child when they approached airport security. Her father wanted her to be as comfortable as possible when meeting his parents, so he canceled the trip, allowing his daughter to remain in Utah. He has stated that he had talked to her many times before the trip, and she seemed excited to meet her grandparents, leading him to believe she possibly was talked into not going.
A custody issue regarding visitation rights may be a very stressful, time-consuming, and emotional process. Requesting visitation rights may often raise many challenges when a biological mother signs over her parental rights. The biological father may have to fight for custody of the child, and his rights can still be questioned even if they were signed over without consent. A family law attorney may help biological fathers regain custody of their children, as well as provide assistance with many other custody disagreements and challenges.
Source: NBC, "Colorado dad faces next hurdle in custody battle", Cheryl Preheim, August 11, 2013
Tags: biological father, custody issue, parental rights, requesting visitation rights
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