Smallwood v. Davis

JOHNSON, Presiding Judge.

On May 18, 2007, Mary Davis filed a petition to adopt her eight-year-old stepdaughter, claiming that, pursuant to OCGA § 19-8-10 (b), a surrender of parental rights by the natural mother, Pamela McGinnis Smallwood, was not required. Smallwood filed an answer objecting to the petition for adoption and refusing to surrender her parental rights. A hearing was held in the Bryan County Superior Court on July 17, 2007. Two months later, the trial court entered a decree that, pursuant to both OCGA § 19-8-10 (a) and (b), terminated Smallwood’s parental rights and allowed…