Chrystal R.m., Plaintiff Below, Appellant v. Charlie A.l., Defendant Below, Appellee

Summary

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia held that a mother's statement in an unconsummated written prenatal adoption agreement naming the adoptive father as the child's natural father does not constitute an acknowledgment of paternity under West Virginia Code 48A-6-6(b) and does not bar her later paternity action against the actual biological father. The court reasoned that the statute requires a written acknowledgment by both the man and the woman, that its purpose is to let a biological father acknowledge paternity without a hearing, that the paternity and adoption chapters are not in pari materia, and that public policy and due process forbid using such a statement to defeat a natural father's rights. Because undisputed blood tests excluded the adoptive father and showed a 99.94% probability that the appellee was the father, the results were conclusive under West Virginia Code 48A-6-3(a)(3). The court reversed the Circuit Court of Wood County and remanded for further proceedings.