[fay]

If a girl/woman has a baby and she and the father aren't married, who has custody? Does the mother automatically have full costody? If the father signed the birth certificate does that make a difference (not talking about going to court or anything)?

[RileyR]

I think they have equal rights.

[Ephemeral]

In the USA, The unmarried mother has natural rights to the kid. Therefore, she has the legal right to custody over the child right away and automatically. Signing the birth certificate makes no difference in legal terms. The only way the father can gain any custody of a child, whether partial or full, is through legal actions if they remained unmarried. Full custody will always remain with the mother if she is deemed to be a suitable parent for the child. If legal action is taken by the father, the best interest of the child is the primary consideration.

In short, Custody of a child out of wedlock always falls to the mother. Therefore, the rights are not equal but rather the rights of the mother are superior to that of any other single person.

I could provide documentation for that but it's a pain. And different states do have slightly different laws although, i believe, all 50 adhere to the general rules I outlined above.

[Perfect Accident]

my sister was talking about something like this the other day. she was saying that in florida, whoever has the better living situation and higher income gets the baby/child(ren). it makes sense in a way. what i knew it as is that the mother gets custody. unless there is a fight for it between the mother and father.

[HDF]

Without a court hearing, as far as i know, the mother gets the rights unless they can prove that she is unfit to care for a child. But in canada it is damn near impossible to take the abby from the mother(i know of many first hand accounts where the mother was miles past unfit and still was rewarded custody). Most parents can come to an understanding where they share custody but the baby usually is with the mother unless proven otherwise.