No parental rights do i still pay

hello,
first thanks for your time appreciaate it much.I reside in california case is in maryland. reciently dec 99 i received notice i owed 14,000 child support 2-3 weeks later i received another notice it was 32,000 and about amont later i received another for 52,000 same case number it said on one notice my payments were set at 175.00 a month now when the child was less than a year i signed my parental rights away she then changed his name without me knowing to what i have never known where she lives and i have never seen the child since birth since she remarried and the man and her asked my mother to contact me and ask me if it was ok for him to adopt i said sure it would be the best thing since the child knew him and not me. i to this day have searched dilligently for a address or # to say hi but to no avail havent found its looking like i have been screwed for 54,000 they want a minimum payment of 6975.00 weekly thats an obsurd amount and i thought the obligation was agreed by the mother and me i no see she notr ask for support if i just stay out of the life of the child. this whole thing is very scary since i now have a family of my own and children i havent the means to pay that amount is this slavery in americia or what.
thank you
email mark_jenn@hotmail.com

[MySonsMom]

What you will first need to do is find out if your x's husband adopted this child as agreed upon years ago. If so, you don't owe anything beyond the date of adoption. Now, in order for you to give up your parental rights for someone to adopt, you have to sign papers etc..It is a process in which it happens. Years ago, did you sign those papers which included extinguishing parental rights AND a non contested adoption? If so, you can fight this. If not, then I hate to say this but you will have to owe. I'm sure if this is the case, you can obtain an attorney and fight the amount. Wow, that's a lot of money, good luck!

------------------
*There is no love, like the unconditional love of a Mother*

-I am not an Attorney, any advice given is strictly advice-

hello,
thank you for giving me a little insite on this matter. Well to tell ya the truth i plain don't remember what exactly i signed but i remember getting rushed through signing something that must have givin her the right to change the childs whole name without my consent and not giving me any notification on the childs condition { i have searched for a long timeand havent found out anything her parents refuse to speak on the phone i just get shut down being a long way away makes it hard} and my mom said about 15 years ago she came around and asked her to contact me and ask me about adoption i agreed but never signed anything i think some shady stuff has been going on to gain name changing and not leting me know anything about the child whom i don't know.
I just making ends meet and cannot afford to pay for an attorney in this matter i guess jail is my future sadly spoken words in americia when a debt is thrown in a persons lap of such a sum above there means that in and out of jail and treated like a hardened crimanal for the rest of ones life is cruel and unusall punishment. thanks
mark

I have talked to lawyers regarding having my 7 year olds biological father sign away his parental rights b/c he has never seen her. I do know that you would've had to have signed papers saying that you give up the rights to your child. Once that is done, they do not need your consent in order for the new husband to adopt the child. Once you sign over your parental rights, you have no say in what goes on with the child. Also, i was told that i could NOT collect 7 years worth of child support b/c i never filed any legal papers to try and get child support before.I don't see how you would have to pay child support for the child if you gave up your parental rights. I would call the courthouse or a legal records dept. in Maryland to find out if the child was in fact adopted and what exactally it was that you signed. May i ask how old the child is now?