Father launches $130m lawsuit to get his son back after his ex-girlfriend puts their baby up for adoption without telling him

  • Jake Strickland met Whitney Pettersson in 2009 and she fell pregnant
  • Mr Strickland claims he assured her he wanted to be involved in the baby's life and went about organizing things for the birth
  • Baby Jackson was born in December 2010 - weeks later Mr Strickland found he had been given up for adoption
  • The father has now filed a federal lawsuit seeking $130m in damages, claiming Utah's parenting laws are pro-adoption and anti-birth father

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 02:12 EST, 1 January 2014 | UPDATED: 15:40 EST, 1 January 2014

A Utah father has filed a lawsuit seeking $130million in damages after his baby boy was given up for adoption without his knowledge.

Jake Strickland's ex-girlfriend Whitney Pettersson gave birth to their son Jackson in 2010 and soon afterwards put him up for adoption. Mr Strickland claims he was not given the chance to seek custody.

Mr Strickland, 27, says he wanted to be fully involved in his son's life and that Miss Pettersson, conspired with the adoptive parents' adoption agency, LDS Family Services, operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to give up his son.

Jake Strickland his son Jackson, born in December 2010, was given up for adoption without his knowledge, and is now seeking $130 million in damages

Jake Strickland his son Jackson, born in December 2010, was given up for adoption without his knowledge, and is now seeking $130 million in damages

Jake Strickland prepared for the birth of his son in December 2010, showing off a stroller that was bought for the boy

Jake Strickland prepared for the birth of his son in December 2010, showing off a stroller that was bought for the boy

Mr Strickland and Miss Pettersson met in 2009 while working at a restaurant. She was married but told Mr Strickland that she was getting a divorce and they began a relationship. Three months later, Miss Pettersson was pregnant.

Mr Strickland says he assured her that he wanted to be involved in his son’s life and provided emotional and financial support, even after their own relationship began to break down.

However in early 2011, Mr Strickland found out that Miss Pettersson had given birth to a boy a week earlier without his knowledge.

It also emerged that she was still legally married to another man and that under Utah state law, he would be considered Jack's father.

 

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The most devastating part of the discovery however was that Miss Pettersson had given Jack up for adoption.

Mr Strickland began a paternity claim to get his son back but was hindered because he had not registered for paternal rights.

Despite his attempts to get his son back, the father learned in November 2011 that Jack had been given up for adoption.

His battle for paternity rights is currently under review by the state.

According to NBC: 'Strickland’s federal lawsuit is seeking $30 million for the loss of the parent-child relationship caused by the adoption and $100 million as a deterrent to ensure another dad doesn't suffer his fate.'

This is the third year of Mr Strickland's fight to have his son returned to him. Each year he and his family gather around a lone birthday candle to sing Happy Birthday to his absent son.

Mr Strickland's lawsuit challenges the restrictions on a biological father's rights in Utah.

 

Video Source www.Getbabyjackback.com

Jake Strickland (center, with cake) says that he and his family hold a birthday party each year for his son lighting a single candle

Jake Strickland (center, with cake) says that he and his family hold a birthday party each year for his son lighting a single candle

A mural on the footpath outside Jake Strickland's home in Utah

A mural on the footpath outside Jake Strickland's home in Utah

The lawsuit, filed last Friday in U.S. District Court, claims the entire process of custody and adoption was illegal and done 'through gross misdirection and … clandestine conduct'.

The suit claims that parenting laws in Utah, which have prevented Mr Strickland and his family from seeing his son, are 'pro-adoption and anti-birth father'.

Attorney Wes Hutchins says the emotional battle is 'pulling [Jake] apart … They still think about Jack even though they don't have contact'.

Pictures provided by Jake Strickland show the measures he went to in preparation for the birth of his son, whom he had with a girlfriend he had dated for about three months

Pictures provided by Jake Strickland show the measures he went to in preparation for the birth of his son, whom he had with a girlfriend he had dated for about three months

Comments (173)

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Utah is very anti-father since they are the only US state that only require the mother to let the father know the child is being adopted instead of requiring his consent for it. Now it gets more complicated with him first do a DNA test and then changing the birth certificate after he showed it to the court. I hope he wins. Sadly this is not the first time this happens in Utah but not have the money to go to court.

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Absolutely disgraceful, woman should be forced to name the father and should be prosecuted if they lie. I'm a mother of three and this is a tragic story.

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Moral of the story is don't knock up a woman who is not your wife. If this 'father' had done things the right way, he would not be in this mess.

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Point is, he never even fathered the child, he merely likes the idea of a baby. How does anyone know if his attitude would take a 180 after a screaming crying infant is introduced into his life? Bets are he'd have his mommy take care of the poor kid. Atleast now the child has 2 parents and belongs to a full family.

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At the center of the issue is a little 3 yo boy who is with parents that he knows as his, who love him and provide for him. It is time to think of the welfare of the child - mentally and socially - it would have a severe impact on him to tear him from the parents he knows as his. Time to let it go. Provide for him with financial gifts to the family or something similar but stay away until the child is old enough to understand that he is adopted and has birth parents.

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I don't know which part of this story is worse. The woman gave up the baby up for adoption without the bio father's consent OR the fact that they were having an affair while she was married OR that they pair of them did not make their relationship work (whether it be staying together or keeping break up amicable) after having found out she was pregnant. If I were the bio mom, I would want the child to be with a loving two parent family.

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Be careful where you plant your seed.

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Bless him for wanting to be a father

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Randall Cheuwhatever your comments are highly offensive and I am a single mom. What if this adulteress wanted to keep the precious baby instead of deserting him and wanted child support? Could he claim just being a sperm donor to get out of paying? None of us have all the facts but I am sick of people not supporting fathers or possible fathers.

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I hope he wins. The idea that a child is better off with a Mormon family than with his single father is insane. So is pressuring pregnant,single girls into giving up their babies to a "properly married couple". Punishing a young woman for having a child out of wedlock by making her give up her child is inhumane, the same goes for the father. RUN from this backwoods "religion".

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