I'm sure I'm not the only one but it REALLY bothers me how msm keep calling WH "Anjelica's father". I don't care if he did legally adopt her.
moo.
It's pretty clear what a huge percentage of people believe he IS her bio-father thanks to the MSM pretty much only using "father" and never mentioning anything else, let alone what a short amount of time he really has been in her life!
Under nearly every article or MSM FB post when someone mentions "step-father" or "adopted" or even a vague reference to him not being AJ's bio father then there are a string of people with "What?!" or "Seriously?" type questions/comments/exclamations and then them asking why that hasn't been more clear since the beginning.
Pretty crazy that even a month into this it's still so minimally or loosely referenced that so many people are still finding WH being a much more recent presence in AJ's life to be a completely new bit of info and yet apparently the media still don't realize maybe they ought to mention that at least periodically if so many of their readers/viewers don't know it! :scared:
In media reports, WH has been referred to as AJ's *father*, *step-father* and *adoptive father*. Depends which one an individual happens to be reading or watching.
Personally, I do not know which of the above mentioned familial relationships is the legal one.
Some have mentioned here and I've also wondered myself whether a *legal name change* took place rather than an actual
adoption.
At this point, I do not know.
I had thought there had been prior posts from Zach (verified insider) about this particular subject, but I did a quick scroll through his profile posts and didn't find it. His posts begin on 3/23/15 although I thought he began posting prior to that date? If you know where he stated something about this, please respond and direct me to it.
But,
IF WH did in fact complete the adoption process, he would
legally be her father.
Adoption:
"It is a social and legal process which gives new parent(s) the same rights and obligations as biological parents.", according to the Virginia Department of Social Services.
https://www.dss.virginia.gov/family/ap/index.cgi
The same link above has this information:
"In a non-agency placement,
the birth parents or legal guardian(s) consent to the adoption, and parental rights are terminated by entry of the final order of adoption."
BUT, there is more to it than the above quotes. The process can be very complicated.
Now, this link
http://www.livesaymyers.com/stepparent-adoption-in-virginia/ pertains to Stepparent Adoption in Virginia and offers more information on these situations and the process. More explanation is provided concerning the process regarding a biological parent. The link is worth the read.
NOTE: Nothing in this post is intended to negate the role of AJ's biological father or
intended to negate the role of Zach as a stepfather to AJ for many years according to Zach's blog
http://riverraging.blogspot.com/2015/03/today-anjelica.html.
And, since I
personally have no real factual information about AJ's and WH's relationship; good, bad or otherwise...I personally don't negate or discount the parental role he played.
JH hasn't stated anything publicly that I've seen in this regard either.
So, I do not know.
Also, IF AJ's last name was actually a *legal name change* and not the result of an adoption; further information about this process can be found here
http://www.livesaymyers.com/how-to-change-child-last-name-virginia/ including "It is important to know that legally changing a child’s name does not alter the rights or obligations of the parents. The other party will still have the obligation to pay child support, care for their child, and may still have the right to visitation unless the court deems otherwise."
For anyone interested, hope this helps.