Pace University DigitalCommons@Pace Pace Law Faculty Publications School of Law 1-1-1993 The Failure to Notify Putative Fathers of Adoption Proceedings: Balancing the Adoption Equation Alexandra Dapolito Dunn Pace Law School Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/lawfaculty Part of the Family Law Commons Recommended Citation Dunn, Alexandra Dapolito, "The Failure to Notify Putative Fathers of Adoption Proceedings: Balancing the Adoption Equation" (1993). Pace Law Faculty Publications. 498. https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/lawfaculty/498 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Law at DigitalCommons@Pace. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pace Law Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Pace. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. THE FAILURE TO NOTIFY PUTATIVE FATHERS OF ADOPTION PROCEEDINGS: BALANCING THE ADOPTION EQUATION There are over 100,000 adoptions each year in the United States.! Adop tion involves the relinquishment of legal rights to a child by the natural par ents and a subsequent creation of those rights in the adoptive parents. 2 Due to the permanent results of adoption proceedings, it is essential to balance carefully the competing rights and interests of the biological parents, the adoptive parents, and the children. 3 Putative fathers pose a great challenge 1. According to a survey by the National Committee For Adoption, Washington, D.C., there were 104,088 domestic adoptions in 1986. NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR ADOPTION, 1989 ADOPTION FACTBOOK 60 (1989). Of these, 52,931 were related adoptions (adoptions by people related to the child), and 51,157 were unrelated adoptions (adoptions by people not related to the child).