by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors
December 25, 2025
The ordeal started in early 2025 when Smith, a 30-year-old nurse who was 9 weeks pregnant, suffered a extreme medical emergency.
A Georgia father has been awarded sole authorized and bodily custody of his toddler son following a months-long authorized battle that started after the tragic dying of the kid’s mom. The case, which concluded in DeKalb County Superior Courtroom this month, has prompted requires legislative change to handle what attorneys describe as a harmful hole in state regulation concerning the rights of single mother and father.
Adrian Harden was granted last custody of his son, Likelihood, on Dec. 2, 2025, by Decide Latisha Expensive-Jackson. The ruling follows an emergency petition for legitimation filed after Harden found that, regardless of DNA proof of paternity, Georgia regulation granted him no automated parental rights as a result of he was not married to the kid’s mom, Adriana Smith.
“I simply wish to ensure he’s received all the things he wants,” Harden stated, talking publicly for the primary time because the ordeal started. “For all the lads that truly care for his or her baby, that’s all we would like—to verify he’s received the perfect and is aware of that I take care of him.”
A Medical Tragedy and a Authorized Disaster
The ordeal started in early 2025 when Smith, a 30-year-old nurse who was 9 weeks pregnant, suffered a extreme medical emergency. After being rushed to Emory College Hospital, docs found a number of blood clots in her mind. She was declared mind lifeless on Feb. 19 however remained on life help for 4 months to permit the being pregnant to proceed.
Their son, Likelihood, was born through emergency C-section on June 13, 2025, weighing simply 1 pound, 13 ounces. Smith handed away 4 days later.
Whereas grieving the lack of his associate and monitoring his son’s well being within the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Harden was confronted with a secondary disaster: Beneath Georgia regulation, the organic father of a kid born out of wedlock has no authorized standing or proper to custody till a court docket formally “legitimates” the connection.
The Struggle Towards Foster Care
Attorneys at Higher Regulation Divorce Attorneys, who represented Harden, famous that with out a right away court docket intervention, the toddler may have been positioned within the custody of the Division of Household and Kids’s Companies (DFCS) and entered the foster care system.
“Mr. Harden didn’t have any authorized rights right here in Georgia,” stated household lawyer Melaniece Davis. “If a father has a baby with a girl he isn’t married to, that father has no authorized rights in any respect, even in a tragic scenario the place the mom has handed.”
Lead lawyer Adriana Gonzalez filed an emergency petition on Aug. 8, securing a brief order on Sept. 3 that allowed Likelihood to go dwelling along with his father. The ultimate order issued this month supplies Harden with full authorized and bodily authority over his son’s upbringing and medical care.
A Push for Legislative Change
The case has sparked a broader dialog about parental rights in Georgia. At present, a organic father’s title on a beginning certificates or a constructive DNA take a look at is inadequate to ascertain authorized parenthood if the mother and father are single. The daddy should “legitimize” the kid by way of a selected authorized course of to achieve the proper to inherit or search custody.
Harden and his authorized group at the moment are advocating for “Likelihood’s Regulation” or comparable reforms that might streamline the method for organic fathers to be acknowledged as authorized mother and father, particularly in circumstances of maternal dying or incapacitation.
“I simply have a look at him, I see his mama,” Harden shared. “He’s received loads of life and loads of spirit. I simply wish to maintain that going.”
As Likelihood continues to develop and get better from his untimely beginning, Harden stays centered on his son’s well being whereas hoping his authorized wrestle prevents different households from dealing with the identical uncertainty.
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