Biological rights. Where putative father’s claim is based on biology alone, Vt law constitutionally precludes a second parentage action after final judgment in first parentage action to which the putative father was not party.

Columbia v. Lawton, 2013 VT 2 (Robinson, J.)  

This case requires us to consider the constitutional rights of a putative biological father who seeks an order of parentage when a court has already issued a parentage order determining the minor child’s parents. We conclude that Vermont’s parentage statute does not authorize a court to allow a second parentage action involving a particular child brought by or against a different putative parent and that constitutional considerations do not require the court in this case to entertain the second parentage case.

In this case, even if plaintiff is the genetic parent of the minor child, he does not have constitutionally-protected parental rights. He did not seek to establish a legal tie to the minor child until more than two years after the child’s birth, and never had any significant custodial, personal, or financial relationship with the minor child despite ample opportunity to formally declare and pursue his assertion of parentage.  After the child's birth he wrote  mother from jail requesting photos of the child, but the request for pictures, without accompanying efforts to take responsibility for the child by establishing a relationship, providing nurturing, offering support, or asserting his legal rights was not enough. When he did step forward, more than two years after the child's birth, he could not claim any indicia of parenthood other than, possibly, a genetic connection. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s decision denying plaintiff’s motion for genetic testing and dismissing his complaint for establishment of parentage.