FD24P00634 - [2025] EWHC 900 (Fam)

These proceedings concern a 1 year old baby, Y, (born on 2 April 2024). Y’s mother, X, is now 17 years old and gave birth to Y in circumstances where she concealed her pregnancy from all family members apart from her mother and father, who were only told of the pregnancy when she was 29 weeks. Since before Y’s birth X has wanted Y to be adopted. Accordingly, Y has been in foster care since birth and in February 2025 he was placed in a foster-to-adopt placement where he is doing well.

The Local Authority has made an application under Part 19(2)(c) of the Family Procedure Rules 2010 for the Court to determine whether it must try to identify and locate Y’s birth father to give him notice of Y’s birth and its intention to place Y for adoption. It has also made an application under the inherent jurisdiction (a C66 application) seeking guidance from this Court about whether it must make enquiries with Y’s extended family in South Africa to give them notice of the birth, to inform them of its intention to place Y for adoption and to ascertain if any of them wish to be assessed to care for him. The Local Authority’s position on the applications is that I should not require it to take any further steps to identify and locate the birth father or any extended family out of the jurisdiction before it presses on with the adoption proceedings in respect of Y.

The matter came before me at a case management hearing on 22 January 2025 when I made directions including for a witness statement to be filed and served from X, providing for Y to be joined as a party to the proceedings and for Cafcass to be appointed as his Guardian. In support of the Local Authority’s applications, I have been provided with two witness statements from a Social Worker at the Local Authority dated 6 November 2024 and 17 January 2025 and a witness statement from the Regional Adoption Agency dated 17 January 2025.

In accordance with my directions, X provided a witness statement dated 14 February 2025 in which she addressed various matters including the identity of Y’s father, the nature of her relationship with the father and the impact upon her if the court did require further steps to be taken to make contact with the birth father or her extended relatives. Cafcass also provided a final analysis dated 27 March 2025. In the event the final hearing took place before me on 31 March 2025 at the end of which I indicated that I would allow the applications with full written reasons to follow. This is my judgment on the applications.