In the Matter of the Adoption of Baby Boy S.

Wichita, Kansas family law lawyers represent man and wife in an adoption case.



"1. On or about December 17, 2023[,] Baby Boy [S.] was born in Wichita, Sedgwick [C]ounty[,] Kansas.



"2. [R.S.] . . . is the natural mother of Baby Boy [S.]. [R.S.] has filed a consent to allow Baby Boy [S.] to be adopted.



"3. In connection with the adoption proceeding, [R.S.] filed a 'Petition For Termination Of Parental Rights Of Father[.]'



"4. [B.G.] . . . is the natural Father of Baby Boy [S.]. He objects to the termination of his parental rights.



"5. [R.S.] has alleged, as her sole ground for the termination of [B.G.'s] parental rights, that [B.G.] failed without reasonable cause to provide support for the mother during the six months prior to the child's birth.



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"7. [B.G.] and [R.S.] were in a dating relationship while in high school. While it was described as 'on again, off again' it was clear that it was more than just a casual fling.



"8. In March, approximately March 1, 2023 ([B.G.'s] 18th birthday), [R.S.] told [B.G.] that she was pregnant. It was not long after that conversation that they told [B.G.'s] parents of the pregnancy.



"9. At the time [R.S.] and [B.G.] found out [R.S.] was pregnant [B.G.] and [R.S.] were living at their respective parent's homes while they finished high school.



"10. When [B.G.] was initially informed of the pregnancy he told [R.S.] to get rid of it, which she interpreted to mean terminate the pregnancy.



"11. [B.G.'s] parents and [B.G.] made both general and specific offers of support to [R.S.]. They told [R.S.] that they would support her emotionally and financially with whatever she needed. [B.G.] offered [R.S.] a crib, money and clothes and his family offered to allow [R.S.] to move in with them. [B.G.'s] family offered to help [R.S.] sign

up for WIC assistance and to help her get to any doctor's appointments. [R.S.] did not receive any of the financial or material help [B.G.] or his family[] offered.



"12. [R.S.] testified that she never told [B.G.] or anyone else she would not accept [B.G.'s] support. [R.S.] never refused any actual attempt to deliver support and she would have accepted any assistance. She told [B.G.] that she needed financial help more than once, but none was forthcoming.



"13. At some point early on [B.G.'s] mother asked [R.S.] to take another pregnancy test which confirmed she was pregnant. [B.G.'s] Mom told [R.S.] that she would have [B.G.] take care of the child.



"14. [R.S.] said that she was scared to tell her Dad and was not going to tell him right now. She explained that she was concerned that she would be kicked out of her Dad's home before the end of the school year. Both she and [B.G.] were close to graduating at the end of the school year in May.



"15. There was no evidence presented to show when [R.S.] told her Dad about the pregnancy but there is testimony that would indicate that she eventually told him prior to the child's birth.



"16. There was no evidence presented to indicate that [B.G.] or his parents were aware that [R.S.] had told her Dad prior to the birth of the child.



"17. It appears that [B.G.] and [R.S.] stayed together through graduation from high school. [B.G.'s] father indicated that he thought that [B.G.] and [R.S.] were going to raise the child together.



"18. Sometime in May 2023, [B.G.] and [R.S.] broke up but continued to communicate. [B.G.'s] Mom was communicating to [R.S.] also.



"19. After the breakup there is some evidence that indicates that there were continued 'general' offers of support made to [R.S.] by [B.G.'s] family.



....



"21. [R.S.] began dating [N.J.]. [N.J.] and [B.G.] are not on good terms and [N.J.] did not want [B.G.] talking to [R.S.]. [R.S.] told [B.G.] that [N.J.] did not want him talking to her.



"22. Text and Facebook messages indicate that [B.G.'s] Mom continued to communicate with [R.S.] up to June 12, 2023[,] at which point the communication stopped. Communication did not start back up until September 2023 when [R.S.] contacted [B.G.] about signing adoption documents.



"23. At some point in June 2023 [R.S.] told [B.G.] that she had a miscarriage of the baby she was carrying.



"24. The break in communication between [B.G.'s] family and [R.S.] is consistent with [B.G.], [B.G.'s] Mom and Dad and [B.G.'s] sister's testimony that [R.S.] told [B.G.] that she had a miscarriage and was no longer pregnant.



....



"26. On [R.S.'s] birthday, August 6, [R.S.] moved out of her Father's house and in with her boyfriend, [N.J.]. She did not tell [B.G.] where she lived and [B.G.] did not know where she moved to. [B.G.] did not ask her where she lived and did not attempt to find her.



"27. In September 2023 [R.S.] contacted [B.G.] to let him know that she was still pregnant. On September 12, 2023, [R.S.] sent a message to [B.G.] letting him know that she didn't want to keep the baby because she was not 'financially stable enough' and that she was considering adoption. [B.G.] responded by telling her 'it's your choice' and 'so it's your choice not mine'. [B.G.] made no offer of financial support to [R.S.] in this text.



"28. In September of 2023 [R.S.] contacted [B.G.] to ask him to sign adoption paperwork. Initially [B.G.] said he was okay with the adoption but later changed his mind and said that he did not want to allow the adoption and that he would take the child.



"29. [B.G.] was not advised by the 'adoption agency' that he would need to provide monetary and non-monetary support to [R.S.] during the pregnancy in order to maintain his parental rights after their child was born.[]



"30. After [B.G.] and his Mother found out that [R.S.] had not miscarried, they again made an offer to help with 'any money she needed', crib, clothes diapers and wipes. None of the help offered was accepted by [R.S.].



"31. [B.G.] worked throughout the time [R.S.] was pregnant and had the means to provide support to [R.S.]. [B.G.] told [R.S.] that he was 'doing fine I got hella money' though he never gave any of that money to [R.S.]. [R.S.'s] stated reason for placing the baby for adoption was that she was 'not anywhere close to financially stable enough.'



"32. On or about October 5th[,] 2023[,] [N.J.] sent [B.G.] a message telling [B.G.] to quit contacting [R.S.]. Around that same time [R.S.] also told [B.G.] to quit messaging her.



"33. After the baby was born [B.G.] found out where [R.S.] lived and he attempted to drop off diapers at her house."

Reversed