Adoption of Emilio G. CA1/2

INTRODUCTION

Andrew L. (Andrew) is the biological father of Emilio G. who was bom in July 2013. Katherine O. (Katherine) is Emilio’s biological mother. Andrew and Katherine never married. Katherine became pregnant with Emilio a few months after she and Andrew began dating in August 2012. Their relationship was not smooth. By April 2013, Andrew and Katherine had broken up, with Andrew confirming the breakup by text message to Katherine.

Late in her pregnancy, Katherine moved forward with a plan to arrange for Emilio’s adoption. She sought to have Emilio adopted by petitioners Oscar and Tisha G. (the G.’s) in San Francisco. The G.’s filed a petition to terminate the parental rights of Andrew. After a two-day trial, the court found that although Andrew was Emilio’s biological father, he had not established that he was Emilio’s presumed father within the meaning of Adoption of Kelsey S. (1992) 1 Cal.4th 816 [ 4 Cal.Rptr.2d 615 , 823 P.2d 1216 ] (Kelsey S.), with the attendant right to withhold his consent to Emilio’s adoption by the G.’s. Having made the finding that Andrew was not a Kelsey S. father, the court then considered whether it would be in Emilio’s best interests…