- In general, before a father's rights can be revoked, he must be legally established in some way as a child's father or putative (probable) father. No uniform definition of "father" exists across all U.S. states and territories. However, establishment of an unmarried father's paternity may be more complicated than for a man wed to the child's mother. Exceptions include, in some jurisdictions, when the unwed father is named on the birth certificate, or he signed a special form at the child's birth to voluntarily acknowledge his paternity. Often family courts can order genetic testing of possible fathers to help resolve questions of paternity.
- Like a birth mother, a birth father can voluntarily terminate his parental rights in order to legally free his child for adoption. The exact steps and time frame for this process vary across states and territories. The birth father may already be working with the agency or lawyer arranging the adoption. Whether or not he is, he must in general be notified of the proposed or impending adoption and given the opportunity to make his wishes known. In some places, if he does not respond within the legally stipulated time frame, the family court may then presume his consent to the adoption.
- According to Child Welfare Information Gateway, typical grounds in the United States for involuntary revocation of a father's rights include "severe or chronic abuse or neglect; abuse or neglect of other children in the household; abandonment; long-term mental illness or deficiency of the parent(s); long-term alcohol- or drug-induced incapacity of the parent(s); failure to support or maintain contact with the child; [and] involuntary termination of the rights of the parent to another child." However, even in these situations, a father's rights are frequently not terminated until after the state has made "reasonable efforts" to help ameliorate such family problems.
- Fathers with all kinds of disabilities, not simply psychiatric impairments like substance abuse, developmental delay and schizophrenia, can be vulnerable to involuntary loss of their parental rights, just like mothers with disabilities. However, in 2009 the United States signed on to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities. In the view of Through the Looking Glass, a U.S. nonprofit that serves parents with disabilities, the Convention enshrines in international law the "recognition that parental disability is never a valid stand-alone basis for the removal of a child from her natural family by state actors."
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