In re the Adoption of Goldman

Cooke, J. (dissenting).

I cannot agree with the majority’s affirmance of the Appellate Division order.

The instant adoption proceeding was instituted pursuant to article 7 of the Domestic Relations Law on April 30, 1974. At *897that time, consent to adoption was not required of a parent who had "abandoned” his or her child. There was, however, no statutory standard set in the Domestic Relations Law for determining what constituted abandonment and courts were required to rely upon the strict common-law standard applied in such cases as Matter of Bistany (239 NY 19) and Matter of Maxwell (4 NY2d…