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24 Pepp. L. Rev. 959 (1996-1997)
When Is a Biological Father Really a Dad

handle is hein.journals/pepplr24 and id is 969 raw text is: When is a Biological Father Really a Dad? I. INTRODUCTION r1ere is a 'clear distinction between a mere biological relation- ship and an actual relationship of parental responsibility.'' In 1993, the nation watched in horror as news reports repeatedly showed Baby Jessica screaming as she was torn from the parents who raised her for nearly three years and given to her biological father.2 A Michigan court allowed Baby Jessica's transfer despite the fact that the experts who testified concluded that this disruption in her life would cause great psychological harm to her in the short term and possibly emotionally scar her for life.' In rendering its decision, the court evalu- 1. Baby Girl K ar rex LK v. B.B., 335 N.W.2d 846, 854 (Wis. Ct. App. 1983) (quoting Lehr v. Robertson, 463 U.S. 248, 259-60 (1983)). In Baby Gir K, the court upheld the termination of a biological father's rights after determining that his prebirth actions precluded a finding that he had established a substantial relationship with his child. Id. at 852-53. 2. See DeBoer v. Schmidt, 501 N.W.2d 193, 194 (Mich. Ct. App.), afd, 502 N.W. 2d 649 (Mich. 1993). Jessica's mother, Cara Clausen, lied about the identity of Jessica's father on the birth certificate. Id. Both Cara and the named father relin- quished their parental rights in order to allow the DeBoers to adopt Jessica Id. One month later, Cara attempted to revoke her release by informing the court that she had lied about the identity of Jessica's father. Id. Daniel Schmidt, Jessica's biological father, then filed a petition asserting his parental rights and seeking to intervene in the adoption. Id. The DeBoers filed a petition to terminate Schmidt's parental rights on the ground that he abandoned Jessica Id. The court held that there was insuffi- cient evidence to show that Schmidt had abandoned Jessica and refused to terminate his parental rights. Id. After a lengthy legal battle, the court took Jessica, then nearly three years old, away from the DeBoers, who had raised her from birth, and gave her to the Schmidts. Dianne Hales, What About the Best Interests of the Child?, OMA- HA WORLD HERALD, Jan. 22, 1994, at 20. 3. See Suellyn Scarnecchia, Defining Family: Adoption Law and Policy Adoption Rights, 2 DuKE J. GENDER L & POLY 41, 41-42 (1995). Jeree H Pawl, Ph.D., Director of the Infant-Parent Program at San Francisco General Hospital and an expert on the case, wrote: Jessica, in being removed from her current 'parents,' will be transported into a nightmare and it is one which will never end. The feelings she will experi- ence cannot be resolved. Perhaps the most compelling way to try to imagine it is to think of it as a kidnapping. Legally it is certainly not a kidnapping, but psychologically, that is exactly what it is from the point of view of Jessica... The most important people in her world upon whom she de-

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