In re Mata
By Third District, at Austin Texas Court of Appeals
- Release Date: 2006-08-09
- Genre: Law
Description
This case presents a cautionary tale illustrating the dangers of private, informal adoptions in which the legal procedures set out in the family code are not followed, leaving both natural parents and would-be adoptive parents open to possible heartache. A private adoption such as this one, while a joyous possibility, can be fraught with risks for everyone involved. The birth mother is faced with the need to make the most difficult of decisions--to forever surrender her parental rights and allow another family to adopt and raise her child--and it is important that her decision to relinquish her parental rights not be rushed. She must have time to fully consider such a momentous decision and the opportunity to seek legal counsel and counsel from family or friends to help her fully understand her options and the consequences of terminating her rights to her child. It is important that the adoptive parents receive certain legal rights from the birth mother to protect them before they form a bond with the child that is unthinkable to sever. That is why the law attempts to protect both sides by specifying the form a relinquishment of parental rights must take, insuring that the mother fully understands the risks and the consequences of her decision. See Vela v. Marywood, 17 S.W.3d 750, 759 (Tex. App.--Austin 2000), pet. denied, 53 S.W.3d 684 (Tex. 2001); see also Tex. Fam. Code Ann. 161.103 (West Supp. 2005) (affidavit of voluntary relinquishment must include statement that parent has been informed of parental rights and duties; statement that relinquishment is revocable, irrevocable, or irrevocable for stated period of time; and explanation of how and when revocation may be accomplished), 161.1035 (West 2002) (if affidavit of relinquishment does not state that it is irrevocable for certain period of time, affidavit is revocable within ten days of execution). This petition for mandamus requires us to examine the painful consequences of a decision that was rushed and the heartache that follows when the parties ignore the legal protections that are designed to apply to such decisions.
