DENVER - Rob Manzanares watches as his 1-year-old son Braylen went down the slide with his mom, Penny. Braylen squeals in happiness and hugged her when they reached the bottom. His son is getting big.
Rob Manzanares realizes that nothing measures time quite like watching children grow.
Moments like these at the park are the kind of snap shots he will always remember for his family that is here, but even more for who is not.
"There is somebody missing to that picture. That is my daughter," he said and sighed.
He has a few pictures of his daughter from when she was a baby. He has a 15-second video from the only time he met her. They had a few minutes in a conference room at a courthouse when a judge ordered her to court. She was 10 months old. She will turn 4 years old in a few days.
He says the pictures and video are a treasure.
"It gives me something to hold onto when I'm down, when I'm thinking why this could ever happen in America," he said.
Manzanares says he is taking on what feels like an injustice in the system. He was devastated after learning how few rights unmarried biological fathers have in Utah.
Almost five years ago, he and his longtime girlfriend, Carie Terry, were living in Denver when they found out they were expecting a baby. He says they had talked about getting married.
"It was probably the happiest day of my life, finding out I would be a dad," he said.
Manzanares says at that point they were not even considering adoption.
He says that changed a few weeks later.
"She came back from her church service and stated to me that she would have to adopt this child to a Mormon family," Manzanares said.
He says she wanted the child raised in a two-parent, Mormon home.
The conversation about adoption ended the relationship and began Manzanares's legal fight to be a father.
"I stated from that day on that there was no way I'll allow my daughter to be adopted. I will fight for her no matter what," he said.
He filed a paternity action in Colorado District Court before his daughter's birth. Colorado established him as the father.
Manzanares's concerns grew after he got emails like this from the birth mother: "If you truly were concerned about the well being of this child, you would do the right thing and consent to an adoption in lieu of being a chromosome donor."
She wrote that they could talk more later.
When she did not show up for a Colorado court hearing about custody, Manzanares had no idea she was in a Utah court that same day.
He did not know she'd gone to Utah, given birth early, and was giving consent for adoption, even though she knew Manzanares was adamantly against it.
Utah has the most restrictive laws on asserting an unmarried father's rights in the country.
John Hedrick is Manzanares's lawyer in Colorado. He also has a legal team in Utah.
"The most troubling fact is that not only did she know that Rob wanted to be involved with this child, but she took the steps to deceive and perpetrate fraud, not only in the Colorado court and the Utah courts," Hedrick said.
Hedrick shared audio from court proceedings where the judge scolds the attorney for the adoptive family saying the birth mother acted with "deception" and "fraud." The Utah judge found that Terry deliberately deceived Manzanares and hid information from the court in Utah and Colorado.
"To make matters worse, she has provided this child to her sister and her brother-in-law," Hedrick added. "It's not like she didn't want this child to be raised by herself and Rob, she just didn't want Rob to be involved in this child's life, and she is."
9NEWS asked the birth mother's attorney, David Hardy, if he or the mother would do an interview for our story. He declined, but sent this statement:
"Four years ago when Carie made her decision, she was in the first position to determine the best interest of her child. She knew the child would be best served and her needs would be satisfied by having two parents in a stable and peaceful home. This has proved to be true and she opposes any disruption of the adoptive placement. Vilification of the circumstances and the people involved will not help the child, who most benefits most from adoption. It is her hope that in future legal proceedings and in the attention given to this case, the focus will be on what is best for the child and her needs."
There are dads like Manzanares all over the country. They are accusing Utah law of intentionally making it difficult for them to protect their rights when they oppose adoption. They say some birth mothers flee to the state knowing that its laws make it very difficult for an unmarried, biological father to get custody.
One father has filed a federal lawsuit against the adoption agency, A Act of Love, and its lawyer, Larry Jenkins. He is the lawyer for the adoptive family in Manzanares case. The lawsuit alleges a vast conspiracy exists in Utah to take children from unwed biological fathers. 9NEWS asked Jenkins for an interview for this story. He declined. The adoptive family in the case also did not want to talk.
Utah's Attorney General has said the law is set up to protect the "best interest" of a child.
Manzanares says he has felt that the law is stacked against him. Even though the judge found the birth mother was deceptive, the adoption was not overturned. There has been an emotional toll that he says is impossible to put into words.
"I have been in a battle across two states that has taken more than $170,000. That is nothing compared to missing four years of my daughter's life," he said.
The Utah Supreme Court ruled this month that Manzanares's parental rights in Colorado should not have been terminated. It is a significant "win." It is the first unmarried biological dad to win a ruling in Utah. But it is not over. There will be more hearings and more appeals and, according to Utah law, the final decision is based on "what is in the best interest of the child."
Wes Huchins is the president of the Utah Adoption Council. He is an adoptive father and biological father who has worked and closed more than 1,700 adoptions to date.
"This is absolutely a groundbreaking decision and signals a major shift in our court's interpreting the current law and calling for a change in our statute so that they are more birth-father friendly, at least in terms of giving them a legitimate opportunity to protect their rights in Utah," Huchins said.
Huchins says he believes Manzanares will get his daughter back.
"I think there needs to be some decisions rendered by various courts, but I think it will end up back in Colorado and we'll see some tension between Utah and Colorado courts," he said.
Manzanares is not guaranteed a reunion with his daughter. He says he understands she is the one who could be hurt most. She has lived in a home all of her four years, and it is all she's ever known.
"It is going to be hard on her. Is it going to be harder now? Or will it be harder when she is 18 years old when she reads through these court documents and says 'Why didn't you allow me to be with my father? Why did you take me from him?'" he said.
"We cannot stand by and let these adoptions happen. While it may be difficult to disrupt an adoption, we cannot standby and do nothing because to do otherwise, would incentivize women and those who work with women that place their children for adoption to do anything to get a child," Huchins said.
"I want to bring my baby girl home to her real family. I plan on continuing climbing this mountain and enduring this strenuous climb ahead of me. I will never stop fighting for my child and nothing will keep me from her," Manzanares said
Manzanares says he loves nothing more than to spend time with his family. They set aside time every night for family dinner. They have another chair ready at the table.
He ends each day giving his son Braylen a bath and puts him to bed. He says you can never get time like that back.
Manzanares says he knows that in a way he wishes he didn't.
On Thursday, a committee in the Utah legislature will have a hearing concerning a bill that would change the state's adoption law. If passed, it would protect the rights of fathers in a more substantial way. Currently, the law states that if a mother uses deceit or fraud it does not have influence on the outcome of a case. That would change under the proposed law as well.
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