Otherwise, use the Windows style sheet. In both cases it must be evident that the mother is incapable of providing proper care for the child according to the standards of the country where she and the child reside and, in writing, irrevocably releases the child for emigration and adoption. If a child is born out of wedlock in a country that has eliminated all legal distinctions between legitimate and illegitimate , paternity has been established, and the father has recognized or acknowledged the child, that child is considered legitimated with the child having both parents, not a sole parent. If a child born out of wedlock is from a country which has eliminated all legal distinctions between legitimate and illegitimate, the child may still qualify for classification as an orphan under U.S. immigration law as long as there is proof that paternity has not been acknowledged or established before the civil authorities in that country.
Most countries have legal procedures for the legitimation of children by their natural fathers.
Accordingly, adoptive and prospective adoptive parents of children born out of wedlock should become familiar with the laws of a foreign country to determine how children become legitimated. A legitimated child has all the same rights as a child born in wedlock. A legitimated child from any country has two legal parents and cannot qualify as a orphan unless only one of the parents is living or both of the parents have abandoned the child. A child abandoned by both parents may qualify as an orphan under U.S. immigration law. A complete definition of abandonment can be found in Appendix B of this manual.