H.R. (In re Baby Boy C.)

H.R. (In re Baby Boy C.)

Opinion

 [*1143]  In this appeal from an order of adoption, this court addresses the question whether H.R., a natural father who seeks custody of his child, grasped his "opportunity interest" in developing a relationship with his child, and, if so, whether the trial judge applied the correct standard in concluding that Baby Boy C.'s best interest called for his adoption by the O. family over H.R.'s objection.

 Lehr v. Robertson, 463 U.S. 248, 103 S. Ct. 2985, 77 L. Ed. 2d 614 (1983), recognizes that ] a noncustodial father has a constitutionally protected "opportunity interest" in developing a relationship [**2]  with his child. The Division agrees that the statutory best interest of the child standard must be applied in determining whether to grant a petition for adoption filed by unrelated persons, that the statute incorporates into the best interest standard a preference for a fit unwed father who has grasped his opportunity interest, and that this preference can be overridden only by a showing by clear and convincing evidence that it is in the best interest of the child to be placed with unrelated persons. Because the best interest standard, as applied by the trial court, did not incorporate such a parental preference, a majority concludes that a remand is required to apply the best interest standard as properly formulated. The dissenting judge would affirm the trial judge's ruling that H.R. did not grasp his "opportunity interest" and would hold that reversal and remand are inappropriate in any event because of the trial judge's determination concerning the effect that transfer from the adoptive parents would have upon the child.

FERREN, Associate Judge: This case concerns the constitutional and statutory rights of an unwed father, appellant H.R., a citizen of Zaire who has been seeking [**3]  custody of his infant (now seven-year-old) son, Baby Boy C. The child's mother, L.C., is a United States citizen who conceived the child while serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zaire. She returned to the United States and, ten days after the child was born in August 1983, relinquished her own parental rights to the Barker Foundation, a licensed child placement agency in the District of Columbia, to facilitate adoption of the child. In September 1983, Barker placed the child with adoptive parents, Mr. and Mrs. O., who, the same day, filed a petition for adoption in Superior Court. Although, upon leaving Zaire, L.C. had told H.R. she was pregnant, a mutual friend told H.R. in July that L.C. had had an abortion. H.R. was not aware that he had a son until sometime in October 1983, when L.C. informed H.R. that they had a child which she had placed for adoption. At this time, however, L.C. did not inform H.R. that he had rights concerning the child, even when he expressed his intent to assume custody of the child himself. Similarly, although the Barker Foundation sent H.R. two letters seeking his consent to adoption, the agency never informed him of his right to seek legal custody,  [**4]  or of Barker's role in the adoption process, or of the pending legal proceeding. In fact, for eighteen months, from October 1983 to April 1985, H.R. received no notice, official or otherwise, that a judicial proceeding had been initiated that could cut off all his legal rights to his child, despite the fact that throughout this period he was in contact intermittently with L.C. and with Barker, asking for information about his legal rights and manifesting a desire to take custody of his son. It was not until April 1985, after the trial court had issued an interlocutory decree of adoption and Baby Boy C. was 20 months old, that H.R. finally received notice of the court proceeding in the form of an order to show cause why a  [*1144]  final adoption decree should not be granted to Mr. and Mrs. O., coupled with an order for H.R. to appear before the court in June 1985 to provide testimony on the issue. After several hearings on the petition held in June 1985 and over the next eleven months, the trial court granted the petition of Mr. and Mrs. O. to adopt Baby Boy C. as being "in the best interests of the child."

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