The acronym TPR stands for “termination of parental rights.” Terminating the parental rights of the biological and legal parents of a child is the first step in the adoption process. This step is essential to the adoption process because the legal relationship between the child and its biological and legal parents must be ended before the new legal parent-child relationship can be formed between the child and the adoptive parents.
Every child that is born whether born through traditional conception or through the use of artificial reproductive technology has at least two biological parents. Sometimes a child may also have other legal parents. The most common type of case where there is both a biological parent and a legal parent is where the mother of the child was married to one man at the time of conception but is actually pregnant by another man. In this case, her husband would be known as the legal father of the child and the man by whom she became pregnant would be the biological father of the child. In cases where the child is conceived through the use of a surrogate or gestational carrier, each of the individuals involved in the process and their spouse may be able to assert parental rights to the child based on a biological or legal connection to the child.
Before an adoption can take place the parental rights of the biological and legal parents must be terminated. Terminating the parental rights of a biological or legal parent to a child simply means that in the future the child and that parent are considered strangers. The biological parent would no longer have any claim to custody or visitation with the child nor would they have any obligation to provide child support for the child. From the date of termination, they would be treated just the same as any person on the street in matters related to that child.
In uncontested adoptions, the parental rights of biological and legal parents are terminated based on the voluntary relinquishment of those rights by the parent. This voluntary relinquishment of parental rights is done in a written document which is explained in detail to the parent before signing and is witnessed by an attorney or licensed social worker. To be valid, this document must contain certain language described by statute and is typically referred to as a Consent and Relinquishment for Adoption.
In contested adoptions (adoptions where the biological or legal parents do not consent to the termination of their parental rights and adoption by the prospective adoptive parents), the parental rights of the biological and legal parents can only be terminated by an order of the Family Court. In these cases, an interested party, typically the prospective adoptive parents or the Department of Social Services, will file an action in Family Court seeking to terminate the parental rights of the biological and/or legal parents. The party asking to terminate the parents’ parental rights must show the court that there is a legal ground for the termination and that the termination is in the child’s best interest. Currently there are eleven legal grounds for terminating the parental rights of a biological or legal parent. The legal grounds for termination of parental rights are set forth in South Carolina Code § 63-7-2570. The legal grounds for terminating the parent’s parental rights must be shown by “clear and convincing evidence.” This standardis a more difficult to meet than the standard level of proof in civil cases which is “by a preponderance of the evidence”, but is less difficult to meet than “beyond a reasonable doubt” which is the standard in criminal cases. If the party asking to terminate the parents parental rights cannot prove one of the legal grounds for termination by “clear and convincing evidence”, the Family Court will not terminate that parent’s rights and the child will not be free for adoption.
Once the party asking to terminate the parents’ parental rights has proven one legal ground for termination by “clear and convincing evidence”, then the next consideration for the Family Court is whether the termination is in the child’s best interest. In determining whether the termination of parental rights is in the child’s best interest the Court looks at all the circumstances related to the child’s current situation. After reviewing those circumstances, the Family Court Judge will determine whether or not in his or her opinion it is in the best interest of the child to terminate the parental rights. If the Family Court Judge determines that it is in the child’s best interest to terminate the parental rights of the biological or legal parent, he or she will issue an order terminating those parental rights after which the child will be free for adoption. If the Family Court Judge determines that it is not in the best interest of the minor child for the parental rights of the biological and/or legal parents to be terminated, then the Court will deny the request for the TPR and the child will not be free to adoption. In the event that the request to terminate the parental rights of a biological or legal parent is denied, a party may later bring a request to terminate the parental rights of the same parent again in the future. However, the new request will have to be based upon facts and circumstances that occurred after the date when the court denied the first request to terminate the parents’ parental rights.