Francesca's rights


At the end, when Matt and the family decide to keep the baby and they are in the office signing the papers, the attonery guy said something about how it doesn't limit the rights of the mother or something like that. I was curious to know, would Francesca have the legal right to see her baby or make decisions for the baby in the future if she feels that Matt isn't doing something right, or since she signed the adoption papers, did she lose custody of her rights by signing the adoption papers even though Matt pretty much cancelled the agreement by taking custody of his daughter?

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Yes now I understand this, first both Matt and Francesca were gonna have the baby sent for adoption but throughout the year when Matt and Francesca had to go to that special school together, Matt wanted to keep the baby then his Mom and Dad and yes Alex too decided to help him raise her. But what I am hoping for Matt is, is he still smart and even with a baby daughter as a responsibility, will he be able to go to college and get a good career so he can support her decently yes since he and Francesca broke up, could he get another girl later on marry her and they both rasin the daughter.

Plus even though Francesca was pregnant with her and because she signed those adoption papers and Matt didn't she has no visitation rights to her and she also said she wanted nothing to do with her either. All she wanted was that sex with Matt in which Matt or Francesca could have used birth control options.

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she has no rights she gave them up

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When they were both in the attorney's office signing the papers, the lawyer said that they have six months after the baby's birth to change their minds. Matt changed his mind right away and got custody of the baby, but Francesca still has a six month window in which she can claim her rights to the baby, which would include petitioning for custody, visitation, etc.

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since she was under the age of 18 her parents can tell her no she cant fight for the rights of the baby as long as she is in their house living.

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I don’t think so she would she signed her rights away. She showed no interest in the baby at all. So its doubtfully she’d decided that she wanted to be in the Childs life. If she did and it was after her window of opportunity it would be up to Matt if he was going to allow her in the Childs life.

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she gave up her rights. she has no right to see her child. she can see the child if matt lets her and thats the only way she can. once you give up your rights you give them up and you shouldnt think you can come and go as you please.

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I found it a pity that while Matt was holding his daughter in the hospital, you don't get to see a reaction of Francesca, or even a glimpse of her seeing Matt holding their daughter. I hated Fransesca's dad for being so politically correct, for example when Matt came over to talk to Fransesca, he was like "you two have nothing to talk about" and the way he was saying "I thought you were not going to be here" to Matt and his mom in the hospital.
I think Matt will still have a proper education, since he was very smart. I think he's a very good role-model for future teendads(hope we won't have too many of them though...)

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Yeah, it irritated me as well that we didn't see Francesca at all during the last couple of parts. Dr. Howle just annoyed the piss out of me during the entire hospital thing. When he told matt's mom that they agreed that she wouldn't be there, that made me mad. How could she not be there? Even in a sitaution where it could have been adults giving birth, aren't usally their parents there? Acting like a jerk when Matt was holding his daughter and that the hospital would look down upon it. I don't get that, because he wanted to see his child. How could someone not want to see their just born child, especially since at that point, she was going up for adoption? Dr. Howle shouldn't have been so mean to Matt, he shouldn't have imposed what he was thinking on Matt and his family. Of course, Francesca's mom also irriatated me as well during the family meeting at the start of the movie. I know that she thought her daughter was a goody two shoes, but to shove all the blame on Matt was not right, it wasn't like he raped her or anything.

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Yeah I was upset at her mother too. Especially since she was the one who brought up sex and invited him over to have sex. Also, that hospital scene got me too. Who cares if the hospital will look down upon it? It's not as if Matt plans on having tons of babies and giving them up for adoption so really why would he care if the hospital looked down upon it. That line could have been left out lol.

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You are wrong Prisoner. Just because she is a minor does not mean she cant have rights to her child. She can fight for her child and her parents can't do a thing. being underage does not nullify her rights as a parent. Since Matt kept the baby and the adoption never happened, its HIS choice if he lets Francesca see the baby.

Renee
Lestatic #15
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In the United States, any minor female who gives birth to a baby is automatically emancipated....whether she keeps the infant or not. This means that parents/grandparents have zero control over the mother, unless they can prove to the court that she is mentally unable to care for herself.

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since she was under the age of 18 her parents can tell her no she cant fight for the rights of the baby as long as she is in their house living.
She absolutely has a legal right to decide whether or not to terminate her parental rights to her child. Parents can't legally force their minor child to terminate their parental right to their baby.



I'm reaching for the life within me. How can one man stop his ending. ~ Blue October

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Her rights are terminated 6 months after the baby is born. So if she decided not to give up her rights, before the baby is 6 months old, she has no rights after that. Which means he does not have to allow her to see her.

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I wish Franny's Daddy could have seen the way she seduced Matt!!!!

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She already signed over her rights.

It all depends on the country they live in. It is a Canadian movie so I am not sure if it takes place in Canada. I remember them mentioning washington d.c so I assumed they live in the states. But who knows.

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Actually. Being an adopted child, my parents explained a lot about the adoption process. the biological parent/parents have all rights terminated upon signing the adoption papers, BUT, have the right to change their mind within the first three years of the adoption taking place.

My adopted parents used to tell me that they were terrified those first 1095 (That's 3 years) days, because my biological mother had the option to change her mind.

She didn't, but I do have a relationship with her now.

Another adoption fact. Open adoptions are extremely common these days. I worked with a girl a few years ago that was 'Auntie So and so' to her own daughter. The lawyer talking about the mother's rights means that she could option in a certain time (depending on state. the limitation in mississippi is 3 years) to change her mind. Not htat he would loose any custody. If she did change her mind, he would still have rights and could still maintain sole (soul?) custody.
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It's been a while since I've seen the movie, but I believe the attorney said that Francesca signed over a certain amount of rights, but still wanted visitation should she ever want to see her, which I think is compeltely ridiculous, because she was going to give her up anyway. She might as well just leave Matt and his family alone and let them raise the baby without having to worry about her interfering.

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