If an unmarried father wants to preserve his rights to a child that he may have fathered, it is important for him to register with the Responsible Father Registry as soon as possible. As of the date of this blog post, a father may register at the following address: South Carolina Responsible Fathers Registry

The

Artificial Insemination is mentioned one time in the South Carolina adoption statutes under the Responsible Father Registry statute.  The implication is that a father who consents to artificial insemination continues to have rights to the child and may preserve those rights by filing with the Responsible Father Registry. Section 63-9-820(L) of the South Carolina

Terminating a parent’s rights or taking his consent and relinquishment without a pending adoption primarily occurs  in DSS cases. The Court approving a Consent and Relinquishment or terminating a parent’s rights without a pending adoption is rare in private actions. The person would have had to have done something  egregious to warrant a Court terminating

In addition to following South Carolina Termination of Parental Right Statutes under Section 63-7-2570 of the South Carolina Code of Laws, as amended, or the Notification Statute under Section 63-9-730 of the South Carolina Code of Laws, as amended to terminate an Indian parent’s rights, the petitioners must follow the requirements of the ICWA.

Specifically

“In South Carolina, there is a common law presumption that a child born during lawful wedlock is a child of the marriage.”  Fisher v. Tucker, 388 S.C. 388, 697 S.E.2d 548 (S.C. 2010).

“No judgment of divorce from the bonds of matrimony shall render illegitimate the child begotten of the marriage.” Section 20-3-200