Unmarried fathers want to give consent before their children can be given up for adoption

Across the street from a Hillsborough County school, parked on the side of the road, Christopher Emanuel and Ulysess Carwise met for the first time—strangers with a strange bond. Both men were single when their then-girlfriends got pregnant. And after the women gave birth, they gave their daughters up for adoption without the knowledge or consent of the fathers. Both intended, expected, and made plans to raise their daughters once they were born. Both fathers attempted to establish their rights. Both fought private adoption agencies and prospective adoptive parents in court.