1. Some men must feel pretty upset if they find out they're not the biological father. Don't they have a right to terminate their obligations to the child?

Courts want to protect children, so they generally stay away from disrupting the parent-child relationship, even if there is no biological basis. The courts justify their refusal to terminate the father's relationship because of the same factors that allowed them to establish his legal status a father in the first place. Essentially, if he acted like a father, helped support and raise the child, then he's the child's father, at least until the child is emancipated, meaning, no longer legally entitled to support because of turning 18, or in some states, turning 21 or even 23. It's hard on the adult, but courts believe it's even harder on a child to lose a parent.

2. What if the mother wants to terminate the father's relationship with the child?

The courts don't want that to happen unless and until another adult is ready, willing, and able to provide the love and support the child is entitled to receive. In some cases where both parents agree, the child's legal relationship with one or both parents is terminated to make the child legally available for adoption. Sometimes the parent-child relationship is terminated against the will of the parents. That could happen in cases of child abuse and neglect. Even if there aren't any adoptive parents, the state sometimes terminates the abusive parents' rights or because they've abandoned the child..

3. What you're saying is anyone can become a father, even if they're not related to the child, and if that happens, they get the same rights to spend time with the child, and only the court change those rights. You're also telling me mothers can lose their children if they abuse or neglect them.

That's right, although the states try hard to keep children with their parents and offer financial and social services to help families in need, but some people just can't handle being parents. They can voluntarily give up the children. Some people allow relatives to raise their children. Those relatives sometimes become court appointed guardians of those children. The courts sometimes make appointments on a temporary basis. That gives a single mother time to get her back on her feet.

4. Why would a relative become a child's guardian?

Many public schools will not enroll a child unless the child is living with a parent or legal guardian. Even if the child is a preschooler, it's important to give the relative authority to seek medical treatment, apply for a passport and secure other services for the child.

5. What happens if the temporary guardians get attached to the children and won't return them to the mother or father?

Those are hard cases, but the courts would conduct a trial. Again, depending on the state, the parents would probably have to be found "unfit" before their rights were terminated. That's not easy to prove. If they lost custody, the guardians might be able to ask the court to grant them visitation, but if the parents fight hard, they could block visitation.