In Re Adoption Of M.

722 A.2d 615 (1998)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

On January 5, 1991, P was adopted at the age of 15. The adoption was uncontested. Final judgment of adoption was entered January 25, 1991. Two years and ten months later, on November 21, 1993, P attained age eighteen. Prior to September 8, 1997, the marital relationship between the adoptive parents failed. The adoptive mother filed her complaint for divorce against the adoptive father, alleging acts of extreme cruelty. On July 29, 1998, P, then twenty-two years of age, gave birth to an infant son. The adoptive father is the natural father of the infant. P and the adoptive father conceived the infant child in or about October 1997, at which time P was twenty-one years of age. The adoptive father engaged in a carnal relationship with P while he was yet married to her adoptive mother. Now the natural parents of the minor child, they desire to marry. Statutes preclude them from marriage: “A man shall not marry any of his ancestors or descendants or his sister, or the daughter of his brother or sister, or the sister of his father or mother, whether such collateral kindred be of the whole or half-blood. A woman shall not marry any of her ancestors or descendants, or her brother, or the son of her brother or sister, or the brother of her father or mother, whether such collateral kindred be of the whole or half-blood. A marriage in violation of any of the foregoing provisions shall be absolutely void.” P petitioned the court to have the adoption vacated. The petition was unopposed by the adoptive mother.