Comment

(This is section 102 of the UPA.)

Four separate definitions of "father" are provided by the Act to account for the permutations of a man who may be so classified. Subsection (1), "acknowledged father," directly responds to a 1996 federal mandate encouraging states to adopt nonjudicial means for a man to identify himself as the father of a child in order to achieve an early determination of paternity. The term "acknowledged father" is given a relatively narrow meaning, rather than the broader definition previously accorded to the term. Only a man who acknowledges paternity of a child in accordance with the formal requirements established in Article 3 qualifies as an "acknowledged father." Because the mother of the child must concur in the formal acknowledgment, the federal mandate declares that the states must treat the action as the equivalent of an adjudication of paternity.

Subsection (2), "adjudicated father," although self-defining, presents a policy choice reached by the Conference that contested parentage matters are reserved for courts to resolve. The definition is limited to judicial adjudication of parentage, rather than providing for an alternative of administrative determination of parentage.

Subsection (3), "alleged father," is derived from the UPUFA § 1(1), although much of the terminology has been changed. A man who is asserted to be, or asserts himself to be or possibly to be, the father of a child is the primary target of the Uniform Parentage Act.

Subsection (16), "presumed father," is more fully defined by the factual circumstances establishing a presumption of paternity in § 204, infra.

Closely related to the definitions of "father," Subsection (12) is derived from the UPUFA § 1(1). Defining "man" to include all male humans eliminates the connotation of adulthood, thereby satisfying the obvious need for the Act to cover under-age progenitors. Although objection to calling a 14-year-old father a "man" was raised when UPUFA was considered by the Conference, for purposes of procreation such a teen-age boy is a man.

Note that a wide variety of other terms historically employed to identify the male parent are not defined in this section. Specifically, the term "putative father" has been