You will likely be found fit at the consent hearing if, before the adoption petition was filed, you established a legally recognized relationship with the child. Adoption petitions can be filed very soon after the birth. Thus, you establish a recognizable relationship by acknowledging paternity, signing the state's putative father registry if that state has one, reasonably and consistently supporting the mother and the child financially, representing and holding yourself out consistently as the child's father, and doing your best to visit and communicate regularly with the child and the mother. If visiting and supporting the child and mom before the petition is filed is impossible, make a bona fide effort to visit and support anyway. Consult an attorney about the best ways to do this. You may not be able to do all of these things, but honestly try to do as much as you can. The typical grounds for termination of parental rights are: abandonment (including failure to acknowledging paternity or sign the state's putative father registry timely), not supporting the mother or child before and after the pregnancy, endangering the child, mental or physical disability, or a previous termination regarding another child.
If you actually satisfy the state's criteria for becoming a presumed father, it will be much harder for the petitioner to terminate your parental rights. Consult an attorney about how to become a presumed father.
