Parks v. Torgerson

Rogosheske, Justice.

Appeal by the natural mother of a child from an order and decree of adoption granted by the Juvenile Court of Washington County in favor of the child’s stepmother.1

The stepmother’s petition to adopt was filed with the consent of the natural father, whom she married following his divorce from the child’s mother. Although the father had physical custody of the child under the decree of divorce, and the natural mother received notice of the petition and participated in the hearing thereon, she refused to consent to the adoption.

The first and determinative question presented…