Application of Conde

McDonough, justice:

The petitioner Kenneth Conde in a ha-beas corpus proceeding in district court sought and obtained custody of his five-year-old son from the boy’s maternal grandparents who had had him in their home since his birth. The grandparents defended alleging that the petitioner is an unfit parent, that he forfeited his parental right by abandonment, and that the interest of the child will best be served by letting him remain with them. From adverse findings and judgment on those issues the grandparents appeal.

The boy’s mother went to the hospital some time before the child was born,…