Abstract
In 1972, the United States Supreme Court found in Stanley v. Illinois' that a biological father' not married to the child's mother had a constitutional liberty interest under the Fourteenth Amendment that is "cognizable and substantial." Since that time, the legal system has struggled to define exactly what that interest is, and how to balance that interest against a state's legitimate interest in promoting the adoption of children born out of wedlock, preventing unnecessary complications of the adoption process, protecting the privacy interests of the biological mother, avoiding controversy, and ensuring that adoptions are final. States now often attempt to set up statutory schemes for adoption proceedings that will protect the states' interests in relation to the unmarried biological fathers, and Utah has been among the most aggressive in this regard.6 The purpose of this Note is to examine the legal options for an unmarried biological father who feels that he has been wronged in a Utah adoption procedure.
Recommended Citation
Bluth, John A.
(2002)
"Can an Unmarried Biological Father Recover His Child and Damages?,"
Utah Law Review: Vol. 2002:
No.
3, Article 6.
Available at:
https://dc.law.utah.edu/ulr/vol2002/iss3/6