In the United States, the putative father registry is a state level legal option for unmarried males to document through a notary public any female they engage with in intercourse, for the purpose of retaining parental rights for any child they may father.
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In the United States, putative fathers will be notified when an action to terminate their parental rights as part of adoption proceedings are filed for a child they may have fathered and registered for. They are not guaranteed any rights in contesting the decision by the mother, nor are they guaranteed the ability to adopt or gain custody of the child. Typically, the father is only guaranteed notification, and the right to appear in court to testify about their child's best interests.
There is no federal law in place regulating putative father registries. Among all signatory countries only the United States refuses to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child and registries are not regulated under the U.N. Charter. Currently 33 states in the U.S. have putative father registries. Unknown is the number of children adopted without consent or notice to the biological father under the registry program started in the 1970s.
The putative father registry is supposedly intended to provide legal recognition to the putative father of a child, provided he registers within a limited time-frame, usually any time prior to the birth or from 1 to 31 days after a birth. Lack of knowledge of the pregnancy or birth is not an acceptable reason for failure to file.
Some states require a putative father to file with multiple states, i.e. with the state possible conception might have occurred, state of residence (if different) and possible states the female might visit or relocate to after the possible conception date that also have putative father registries. To be valid at least one state requires a parent or guardian of the declarant to also sign when a minor under the age of 18 is documenting intercourse with a putative father registry.
17 states (Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Washington, West Virginia), as well as American Samoa, District of Columbia, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, do not have putative father registries.
Also known as
Putative father registries are not always called such by individual states. Other names for registries include: