About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

95 Colum. L. Rev. 60 (1995)
Unwed Fathers' Rights, Adoption, and Sex Equality: Gender-Neutrality and the Perpetuation of Patriarchy

handle is hein.journals/clr95 and id is 70 raw text is: UNWED FATHERS' RIGHTS, ADOPTION, AND SEX EQUALITY: GENDER-NEUTRALITY AND THE PERPETUATION OF PATRIARCHY Mary L. Shanley* When should an unwed biological father be able to reverse a biologi- cal mother's decision to place their offspring for adoption? This question recently has been the focus of broad public discussion sparked by the publicity surrounding some biological fathers' efforts to block or reverse the adoption of their offspring.' In the BabyJessica case, In re B.G.C.,2 the child's biological parents, Cam Clausen and William Schmidt of Iowa, fought successfully to prevent Roberta andJan DeBoer of Michigan from finalizing the adoption of the toddler who had lived with them since shortly after her birth.3 In In re Doe (Baby Boy Janikova) the Illinois Supreme Court overturned the adoption of Baby Richard, the biologi- cal child of unwed parents Otakar Kirchner and Daniella Janikova who married after Janikova surrendered the baby for adoption, on the grounds that Kirchner's rights had not been properly terminated three years previously.4 Many commentators on these cases asked whether the alleged parental rights of William Schmidt and Otakar Kirchner should * Margaret Stiles Halleck Professor of Social Science, Department of Political Science, Vassar College. I wish to thankJoan Callahan, Stephen Ellmann, Leslie Goldstein, Mona Harrington, Alice Hearst, Wolfgang Hirczy, Arthur M. Martin, Gillian Metzger, Martha Minow, Uma Narayan, Susan Okin, andJoan Posner for helping me to think about the issues raised in this article. Nancy Erickson, formerly a professor at the Ohio State University College of Law, was particularly generous in providing me with legal materials and sharing her expertise. I began work on this article while a Fellow at the Center for Human Values at Princeton University, for whose support I am very grateful. This Article developed from a paper presented at the Feminism and Legal Theory Workshop on Parents and Children: Evolving Issues in Reproductive Rights, Columbia University School of Law, March 25-26, 1994. A different version of that paper was presented at the Conference on Feminist Ethics and Social Policy, University of Pittsburgh, November 5-7, 1993, and appears in Reproduction, Ethics and the Law: Feminist Perspectives (Joan C. Callahan ed., forthcoming 1995), and 10 Hypatia (forthcoming Winter 1995). 1. See, e.g., Emily Barker, Delivering Baby Jessica to Her Biological Parents, Am. Law., Oct. 1993, at 32, 32; Elizabeth Bartholet, Blood Parents vs. Real Parents, N.Y. Times, July 13, 1993, at A19; Nancy Gibbs, In Whose Best Interest?, Time, July 19, 1993, at 44, 46; Anna Quindlen, Whose Best Interests?, N.Y. Times, Dec. 9, 1992, at A23. 2. 496 N.W.2d 239 (Iowa 1992). 3. See id. at 244-47 (affirming dismissal of the DeBoers' adoption petition on the grounds that Sclhmidt's parental rights had never been terminated); see also DeBoer v. Schmidt (In re Baby Girl Clausen), 502 N.W.2d 649 (Mich. 1993) (per curiam) (holding that under the Parental Kidnapping and Prevention Act Michigan courts lacked jurisdiction to review Iowa custody decisions and that the DeBoers lacked standing to challenge the Iowa decisions). 4. See In re Doe (Baby BoyJanikova), 638 N.E.2d 181 (Ill.), cert. denied, 63 U.S.L.W. 3313 (U.S. Nov. 7, 1994) (No. 94-615), and cert. denied, 63 U.S.L.W. 3109 (U.S. Nov. 7, 1994) (No. 94-236).

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most