October
24. On this date in 1965, the Universal House of Justice wrote the NSA
of the US that, for marriage, "adopted children, the consent of all
natural parents must be obtained wherever this is legally possible...If
there is no such legal bar to approaching the natural parents and if it
is legally established that the man in question is the father, the child
must obtain his consent if he is alive."
"Regarding the matter of adopted children, the consent of all natural parents must be obtained wherever this is legally possible but no effort should be made to trace the natural parents if this contravenes the provision of the adoption certificate or the laws of the country. If there is no such legal bar to approaching the natural parents and if it is legally established that the man in question is the father, the child must obtain his consent if he is alive. If the presumed father has disappeared to the degree that he can be presumed legally dead then his consent is not required. Furthermore, if the assumed natural father denies that he is the father of the child the following principles apply: if his name appears on the birth certificate of the child and if the law of the country presumes that the name on the birth certificate is that of the father, then he should be considered as the father for the purpose of obtaining consent. If the name of the father given on the birth certificate is not a conclusive presumption of parenthood and if the man in question has always denied that he is the father of the child, the child is not required to seek the consent of this man unless it has been legally established that he is the father notwithstanding his denial."
(From a letter of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, October 24, 1965)
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