Teen dad fights to keep baby

A teenage father in the US is fighting for the right to adopt his own son, who was believed to have been secretly put up for adoption by the baby's mother.

The morning after Preston King, 18, was told of the baby being handed over to his adoptive parents, he headed for the Orange County courthouse in southern California to file papers to establish paternity, Britain's Daily Mail reported.

He said his constitutional rights were taken away from him when his former girlfriend, the mother of his child, decided she could not raise the child on her own, the report said.

King has launched a Facebook page and website to get support for his cause.

He said he took the responsibility of his impending fatherhood seriously and took on a second job.

King said he attended every doctor's appointment. He also said he pampered his ex girlfriend as much as he could.

He rented an apartment for her and their future baby a month before graduating from high school, and bought baby furniture and decorative items to make the place feel homely. King said that during the summer he was informed that his ex was planning to give their baby away at birth for adoption with or without his consent.

He said he was even contacted by an adoption agency trying to coax him into meeting the people she had selected.

King said he wanted to raise his child and was against placing him up for adoption.

King said he went to court several times to prevent the baby from going home with adoptive parents. Baby Wyatt was born on Sept 7, and sent home with his adoptive parents.

DECLARATION

King was denied the opportunity to sign a declaration stating he was the father and was refused the opportunity of being placed on the birth certificate at the hospital.

Wyatt was handed over to foster parents within hours of his birth, after just 15 minutes alone with his father.

The baby's mother did nothing to stop him being given away once her mind was made up, and claimed that King was never there for her emotionally, mentally or financially.

King is adamant that he is the biological father and that a DNA test would confirm it. He has vowed to continue to fight.

He is pushing for a change in the law and has set up an online petition to prevent so-called "unethical" adoptions from taking place.

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