The Question:
My son and his girlfriend are pregnant and all happy living together. Baby is due in 16 days. Come four days ago she disappears on Saturday and shows up late Sunday night. She says she was at the hospital and lost the baby. She shows us no paperwork, she will not talk to us, she will not cooperate in letting us know or showing any proof. They are not married. What can we/he do?
RJ Says:
I would first demand medical records proving she lost the baby. If she refuses to give you such proof, then I would be suspicious. Perhaps a strongly worded letter from a qualified paternity attorney would convince her to give you this proof.
One thing you can do, to protect yourself long-term, is to file a claim with the Arizona Putative Father’s Registry. A putative father is a person who claims to be the father of a child and wants to establish paternity. This person also wants to receive notices of any adoption proceedings concerning the child.
The registry serves two purposes:
- Enables a putative father to notify interested parties of his claim of paternity so that he can receive notice of any proposed adoption proceedings.
- Protects the security and stability of adoptions.
A putative father who files a Notice of Claim of Paternity before the birth of a child or within 30 days after the birth of a child is entitled to receive notice of any judicial hearing regarding the child’s adoption. WE CAN ALSO file on your behalf.
Then, I would consider investigative options, such as social media or even through a private investigator.
Finally, I would also be willing to consider actually filing a Paternity Complaint. this would force her to answer under oath whether she gave birth, AND would give you the ability to seek her medical records even over her objection to confirm.