Dear Person Who Was Wondering “can a minor child give up their baby for adoption with out parent concent [sic] in utah”?
Yes. Why, yes they can.
She can’t open a bank account without parental consent. She can’t get married without parental consent. She can’t legally own property. She can’t get birth control if paid for by state funds without parental consent (one of only two states requiring this, the other being Texas). And she certainly can’t have an abortion without parental consent. In some instances, she can’t even register for an online social networking account without parental consent.
But give away a baby without parental notification or parental consent?
Utah Code 78B-6-123. Power of a minor to consent or relinquish.
(1) A minor parent has the power to:
(a) consent to the adoption of the minor’s child; and
(b) relinquish the minor’s control or custody of the child for adoption.
(2) The consent or relinquishment described in Subsection (1) is valid and has the same force and effect as a consent or relinquishment executed by an adult parent.
(3) A minor parent, having executed a consent or relinquishment, cannot revoke that consent upon reaching the age of majority or otherwise becoming emancipated.
Heck. She doesn’t even have to tell the father she is giving his child away to strangers!
Welcome to the great state of Utah!
M.
P.S. Does anyone else see the irony of laws in which a minor cannot get birth control or get married without parental consent but can make a decision like relinquishing a child (that she got pregnant with because her parents wouldn’t consent for her to get birth control) for adoption without telling her parents? The law doesn’t even provide for grandparents to even be INFORMED that it is happening, much less CONSENT to it. What kind of whacked up laws are those? Oh yeah. Utah’s laws.
Letters to Ms. Feverfew 
Doesn’t all that just make you sick? At times, I have often wondered if they can’t get birth control or as in the catholic life that it’s a sin to even use birth control if they are creating life and creating situations where adoption might be more likely to happen.
That thought has flitted across my mind as well – it makes me anxious to think about it and so I try not to, as much as possible. Yes, I admit I am sticking my head in the sand on this one but my soul could not handle it if that were in fact true.
As I was reading that I was thinking that same irony in the laws. You can’t get birth control, but if you do have sex and get pregnant you sure can give that child to a “deserving” couple.
Christy – As far as I know it is not a sin to take birth control, but it is a sin to have pre-marital sex so you shouldn’t be getting birth control if you aren’t married. You should only use birth control as a tool in planning your family with your spouse and Heavenly Father’s guidance.
Yes, Desi, you are right. Within the LDS church, birth control within marriage is not a sin. <a href="http://lds.org/study/topics/birth-control?lang=eng&query=birth+controlHere’s what they have to say about it:
I don’t know a lot about Catholic’s but I thought that they weren’t even suppose to use birth control even if they were married cause God says create life. However, people are going to have sex and should have access to birth control married or not. I think for religions to put their two cents in it about who should and shouldn’t have birth control is just plain wrong if they are going to be arranging adoptions and filling their pockets with money that was paid by couples adopting. I can’t help but feel like they are supplying the demand of babies by refusing birth control to those at risk for adoption.
It kind of feels that way, doesn’t it?
I have recently heard that the LDS church is working to get out of the adoption industry ENTIRELY ( I think in part because of the high-profile cases and lawsuits from the fathers who have been denied their rights by Utah adoption agencies and laws). I sure hope it happens sooner than later.
You are correct, birth control is a sin in Catholicism because the act of love making is never allowed to be separated from the potential to create life. No form of birth control is ever considered legitimate, regardless of marital status.
This is one of many reasons for my rejection of my Catholic upbringing.
Interesting story: I have a friend who volunteered in the office of her Catholic church. She overheard a conversation between a female member of the church and the priest. The women was sobbing and begging for permission to use birth control because she and her husband already had too many children (five or six) and needed to make sure they didn’t have anymore. The priest told her no, birth control is a sin, and not to worry because God would take care of everything.
My friend left the church at that point as she simply couldn’t take the nonsense anymore.
“but it is a sin to have pre-marital sex so you shouldn’t be getting birth control if you aren’t married.”
Whoa there. By ‘pre-marital sex’, do you specifically mean any type of sex prior to marriage?
Yes, Mei-Ling. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints believe that God’s standards require complete abstinence before marriage and complete fidelity afterwards. Anything less falls short of the standard He has set and therefore requires repentance. Yes, it is a very high standard and hard to live up to, but it is one the members of the church agree to live by. Fortunately, when one does fall short, the Atonement of Jesus Christ is there to set things right again.
Watch this video for some member’s feelings about it:
http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1Utah and many other states appear to want to go back in time to the BSE.
It should be illegal for a minor to sign surrender papers giving up her parental rights.
I also note that no GAL or other court ordered representative is required to ensure the minor has adequate counsel is written into the law. Would not want any obstacle in the way of placement.
And finally – repentence in the form of not parenting as the punishment for pre-marital sex – yah the BSE all over again.
Like I have always said, should anyone think the BSE is a relic of the past, they need look no further than Utah and the LDS church. It is alive and well there in the shadow of those everlasting hills. 😦
EXACTLY.
Yup. This exact rationale is what was used to convince me that my daughter needed to be raised by other people. According to my Bishop at the time, I was not truly repentant if I was not willing to relinquish her for adoption (I REFUSE to use the word “place” or “make an adoption plan.”) I was told that I was being “selfish” in putting my “wants” ahead of hers. I was told if was truly a “good mother” I would set my needs aside and relinquish her for adoption, and that in doing so, I would prove to God and my Bishop that I had truly repented of the sin of having sex outside of marriage.
And before anyone starts in with the “That was soooooo long ago!” let me remind them these same tactics are still in play TODAY, courtesy of the LDSFS and NCFA.