SC Hopes New Father Registry Could Speed Adoptions

Jim Davenport Associated Press

January 3, 2010

COLUMBIA, S.C.  South Carolina starts the new year by joining nearly three dozen other states that have registries for biological fathers, which adoption advocates hope will shorten the time children spend in foster care.

Columbia adoption lawyer Paul Meding says the registry could shave a couple of months from completing adoptions.

The new law requires men who believe they may have fathered children to register with the state or they can lose the ability to have a say in whether a child is put up for adoption. The registry cannot be used to pursue child support.

It will end the practice of running an ad weekly, for three consecutive weeks, notifying an unknown father of a pending adoption and the loss of his parental rights.