Fathers and the adoption process

This chapter considers the place of fathers in adoption proceedings. It analyses the (potentially conflicting) interests involved in the question whether to identify and involve the child’s father in such proceedings, including those of the father themselves, the child, the child’s mother and the state. Reference is made both to international human rights norms and to examples of law and practice in various national systems. The chapter advocates a general approach whereby a father should be presumptively entitled, for the benefit of the child, to know that his child exists and have some level of involvement in the adoption proceedings, unless there is an objective finding that such involvement would be contrary to the child’s best interests.