Case No. GL20P00553

2.The baby’s parents are not married, and only the mother has parental responsibility. They met at university and were in a relatively early stage of their relationship when the mother discovered that she was pregnant – not just that but she was 34 weeks pregnant. 3.This was a surprise and terrible shock to them. For many, if not most people, the impending arrival of a baby is one of life’s greatest gifts. For others, who have not planned it and are not at the right stage of life, it is extremely difficult if not frightening. To be a parent is a great privilege but it is also a huge responsibility. Some parents facing an unplanned baby adjust to, welcome and then love the child as much as any planned arrival. Others, however, do not feel that they can offer the child the love and care that he or she deserves. Many women in such circumstances (if they discover the pregnancy early enough) will seek terminations. There were over 200,000 terminations in the UK in 2019. Others will look to have the baby adopted. There may be a category of such parents who place the baby with a family member, although such a course of action will mean the retention of their ultimate legal status as a parent. 4.In this case both these parents decided that they were unable to take on the responsibility of being a parent at this stage of their lives, and that in those circumstances the best choice they could make was for H to be adopted. They approached the local authority before the birth and had a number of meetings with the social worker. The social worker also met the mother’s family (who were supportive of the decision). 5.The father told the social worker that his own mother also supported the decision, and when asked to provide a telephone number for her, declined, saying that she did not wish to speak to her. 6.H was placed in foster care immediately after he was born. At a few days old maternal family members visited and held H. Some photographs were taken for the life story book. The social worker said that they left feeling confident and happy that the baby was being well cared for. At just over two weeks old, H was placed with ‘foster to adopt’ parents. 7.Just before the baby went to the foster to adopt placement the social worker received a telephone call from the paternal grandmother. She stated that she had only just become aware of H’s existence, and wished to care for the baby immediately. She told the social worker that her son had told her that if she went ahead with this he would never speak to her again. 8.Upon hearing from the grandmother the social worker spoke to the parents again. They were adamant that the baby should not be placed with her. The father said that his mother was a single parent with depression, unemployed and living in social housing. The parents were very upset at the grandmother’s request and asked the local authority not to assess her as a potential carer – or indeed to share any further details of what was happening with her. 9.The grandmother in turn was also distressed and there was an exchange of numerous messages between herself and the parents. The grandmother simply could not understand the decision that these parents were making. She wondered whether it could be that the baby was not her son’s. She also believed that the decision was one that was made in haste and in a situation of stress, and believed that her son would later bitterly regret the decision he had made. She stated in the messages that she was more than willing to bring up the baby until they were ready. The mother tried to explain in her messages in response that they had thought about a family placement but did not think that would be the best for the baby. As the messages demonstrated that the parents continued to be firm about the decision they had made, the paternal grandmother consulted a solicitor. 10.On 8th September the local authority issued an application asking the court ‘to exercise its inherent jurisdiction to determine whether the parents’ consent to the adoption should be accepted in accordance with section 19 Adoption and Children Act 2002’. The application stated that the parents did not want any assessments of family members to be carried out, and the authority was in agreement with this because it did not consider it to be in the best interests of the baby given the strong opposition to it by the parents. This application was followed by another under the inherent jurisdiction asking the court to make a declaration that it was lawful for the local authority not to assess the paternal grandmother. 11.The application was made to the family court, and was transferred to be heard by a High Court Judge in November and then listed before me for the first time in December 2020. The grandmother applied for permission to apply for Child Arrangements/Special Guardianship orders on 28th September 2020. Meanwhile, on 25th February 2021 both parents attended the CAFCASS National Business Centre and the mother gave her consent under section 20 Adoption and Children Act 2002 for the baby to be adopted. She also confirmed that she did not wish to be notified of an application for, or the making of, an adoption order. 12.The matter was listed before me to determine both the application for permission not to assess the grandmother and the application for leave to apply for an order under s 8 or 14A. In the meantime the parties agreed that the local authority would be permitted to gather some information about the paternal grandmother and indeed to speak to other members of the paternal family too.