No Child Should Be Without A Dad

A while ago, my daughter came to me with a surprising request. Her name is Cassidy, a beautiful and smart 14 year old girl. She has requested help in terminating her biological father's parental rights. You see, Cassidy has suffered mental, verbal and emotional abuse from her biological father for a long time. He repeatedly lies to her and has not provided financial support among many other things. Recently, he requested that he not have to pay any child support, and he continues to pressure me to close the child support case, but at the same time, he will not waive his parental rights. However, Cassidy has had another dad in her life: my husband, and Cassidy's step dad, Hank. He has solely supported and provided for her with love and financial needs since she was 2. This is the man that she has come to know as "dad." As a result, she wants to do something very special for him. She wants to propose to him to legally adopt her as his own. Recently, we visited our family lawyer. He felt she has a great case after reviewing Virginia Code of Laws. Given that Hank has provided her for over 6 yrs (and truly 12 yrs in our eyes) and the fact that Cassidy is at the age where she's old enough to consent and file 'emancipation' against her father, he felt that she has a great chance of having the judge decide in her favor. From Cassidy's perspective, she doesn't even know any of her father's family members...not one but her older brother that also lives with us, and who also "legally" disowned his biological father at the age of 18 by changing his last name. Their biological father has never been actively involved in their lives, and as a result, they do not have a desire to be a part of his life as well. This also resulted in a court order that deemed me the sole custodial parent. The estimated cost is $1,500. This includes fees for the emancipation and adoption. My husband loves Cassidy as his own and he has been her full time father in many ways: financially, emotionally and psychologically. Now it's time for him to be allowed to be her legal father as well. This will be a great gift to him. He is also the father of our two younger children we have together. He has gracefully been a father to all four of my children. This is what Cassidy truly wants. Our lawyer mentioned it might even be less than $1,500 depending on the case itself. If we received more than our goal, we plan to donate the remaining funds to a local adoption agency. All supports and help will be forever appreciated. I'll be more than happy to keep y'all up to date with all this as it progresses. We do need your help to make Cassidy's wish come true, and for Hank as well. No child should be without a dad. Bless you.