Mathias, J.
S.R. (“Putative Father”) appeals the trial court’s grant of T.D.’s (“Adoptive Mother’s”) petition to adopt M.J.H. (“Child”). Putative Father presents one issue for review, namely, whether the trial court erred when it concluded that his consent to the adoption was irrevocably implied by his failure to register with the putative father registry.
We affirm.
…..
Putative Father presents an issue of first impression for our courts, namely, whether Indiana Code chapter 31-19-5 (“Chapter 5”), which governs the putative father registry, applies where a mother does not consent to an adoption. Initially, we note that, despite the DNA test showing that Putative Father is Child’s biological father, he qualifies as a “putative father” under Indiana Code section 31-9-2-100.
Chapter 5 begins with Indiana Code section 31-19-5-1, which provides:
(a) This chapter applies to a putative father whenever:
(1) an adoption under IC 31-19-2 has been or may be filed regarding a child who may have been conceived by the putative father; and
(2) on or before the date the child’s mother executes a consent to the child’s adoption, the child’s mother has not disclosed the name or address, or both, of the putative father to the attorney or agency that is arranging the child’s adoption.
(b) This chapter does not apply if, on or before the date the child’s mother executes a consent to the child’s adoption, the child’s mother discloses the name and address of the putative father to the attorney or agency that is arranging the child’s adoption.
(Emphases added.) Putative Father argues that the statute is written such that it “plainly requires the child’s mother to have executed a consent to the child’s adoption,” and, otherwise, the chapter does not apply. Appellant’s Br. at 12 (emphasis added). We do not agree.
Putative Father’s argument ignores the plain language of Indiana Code section 31-19-5-1: a putative father is subject to Chapter 5 “on or before” a mother consents to an adoption. (Emphasis added.) The date of a mother’s consent is only relevant to the issue of whether she provides a putative father’s name and/or contact information to an agency or an attorney prior to the entry of the adoption decree, which, in turn, determines whether Chapter 5 applies to him. There is no statutory requirement under Chapter 5 or elsewhere in the adoption statutes that a mother give her consent before a putative father is required to register with the putative father registry. Rather, the applicable statutes very clearly establish that, unless and until Indiana Code section 31-19-5-1(b) applies, a putative father is required to register.
Indiana Code section 31-19-5-12 imposes a deadline for registration with the putative father registry. That deadline does not refer to a requirement that the mother give her “consent” to an adoption….
Here, as the trial court found, and consistent with the statute cited above, the deadline for Putative Father’s registration was May 2, 2022, when Adoptive Mother filed her adoption petition….
In sum, unless he is exempt from registering under Indiana Code section 31-19- 5-1(b), Chapter 5 explicitly applies to a putative father before a mother’s consent is or may be executed. [Footnote omitted.] The relevance of a mother’s execution of consent to an adoption is merely the timing for her to provide information about a putative father. And whether her consent is ultimately given or not unless Indiana Code section 31-19-5-1(b) is satisfied, a putative father is required to timely register with the putative father registry under section 31-19- 5-12.
….
Putative Father never registered with the putative father registry. Accordingly, the trial court did not err when it concluded that Putative Father’s consent to the adoption was irrevocably implied and granted the adoption petition.
Affirmed.
Tavitas, J., and Weissmann, J., concur