In re the Adoption of Shannon Linda T.

Petitioner is seeking to adopt his wife’s daughter by a previous marriage without the consent of the child’s father. The issue to be determined is whether that consent can be dispensed with under section 111 of the Domestic Relations Law on the grounds that the father abandoned the child.

The child’s father and mother were married March 3, 1968 and very quickly thereafter encountered serious marital difficulties. They physically separated in May, 1968, although the mother was already pregnant, and never again lived together. The mother brought a support proceeding in Family Court in the fall…