In re the Application to Adopt J.M.D.

Standridge, J.:

M.D. (Father) appeals the district court’s order terminating parental rights to his children J.M.D. and K.N.D. and permitting the children’s stepfather (Stepfather) to adopt them. We reverse the district court’s decision.

Facts

Father and S.H. (Mother) were married in 1993 in Missouri. During the marriage, Father and Mother had two children: J.M.D. was bom in 1996, and K.N.D. was bom in 1998. In 1999, J.M.D. was diagnosed with cancer. As a result, J.M.D. underwent numerous hospitalizations, as well as a year of chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

In October 2001, Father and…