In Re Adoption of Orwick

OPINION OF THE COURT

JONES, Chief Justice.

Appellees, Louis and Leann Shank, husband and wife, petitioned the Court of Common Pleas, Orphans’ Court Division, of Blair County to adopt as their heir-at-law Edward McClellan Orwick, Jr., a child born to Leann Shank, formerly Leann Orwick, when she was married to appellant, Edward McClellan Orwick, Sr. The petition filed February 21, 1974, alleged that appellant had abandoned his son within the meaning of Section 311(1) of the 1970 Adoption Act 1 and that, therefore, an involuntary termination of appellant’s parental rights was in order. After a…