In Re Adoption of Brown

These matters essentially turned upon the problem of adoption without parental consent, and arose out of two proceedings which were consolidated for trial. In the first, Thelbert Reed Taylor, hereinafter referred to as Reed Taylor, and his wife, Carol Taylor, petitioned for the adoption of two' minor children, Richard and Kimberly Brown. Reed Taylor had been married for about 11 months to the natural mother of the children, Darlene Taylor, prior to her suicide in 1973. The natural and lawful father of the children, Clayton Leonard Brown, hereinafter referred to as Leonard Brown, refused to…