by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors
December 25, 2025
The ordeal began in early 2025 when Smith, a 30-year-old nurse who was nine weeks pregnant, suffered a severe medical emergency.
A Georgia father has been awarded sole legal and physical custody of his infant son following a months-long legal battle that began after the tragic death of the child’s mother. The case, which concluded in DeKalb County Superior Court this month, has prompted calls for legislative change to address what attorneys describe as a dangerous gap in state law regarding the rights of unmarried parents.
Adrian Harden was granted final custody of his son, Chance, on Dec. 2, 2025, by Judge Latisha Dear-Jackson. The ruling follows an emergency petition for legitimation filed after Harden discovered that, despite DNA proof of paternity, Georgia law granted him no automatic parental rights because he was not married to the child’s mother, Adriana Smith.
“I just want to make sure he’s got everything he needs,” Harden said, speaking publicly for the first time since the ordeal began. “For all the men that actually care for their child, that’s all we want—to make sure he’s got the best and knows that I care for him.”
A Medical Tragedy and a Legal Crisis
The ordeal began in early 2025 when Smith, a 30-year-old nurse who was nine weeks pregnant, suffered a severe medical emergency. After being rushed to Emory University Hospital, doctors discovered multiple blood clots in her brain. She was declared brain dead on Feb. 19 but remained on life support for four months to allow the pregnancy to continue.
Their son, Chance, was born via emergency C-section on June 13, 2025, weighing just 1 pound, 13 ounces. Smith passed away four days later.
While grieving the loss of his partner and monitoring his son’s health in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Harden was confronted with a secondary crisis: Under Georgia law, the biological father of a child born out of wedlock has no legal standing or right to custody until a court formally “legitimates” the relationship.
The Fight Against Foster Care
Attorneys at Better Law Divorce Attorneys, who represented Harden, noted that without an immediate court intervention, the infant could have been placed in the custody of the Department of Family and Children’s Services (DFCS) and entered the foster care system.
“Mr. Harden did not have any legal rights here in Georgia,” said family attorney Melaniece Davis. “If a father has a child with a woman he is not married to, that father has no legal rights whatsoever, even in a tragic situation where the mother has passed.”
Lead attorney Adriana Gonzalez filed an emergency petition on Aug. 8, securing a temporary order on Sept. 3 that allowed Chance to go home with his father. The final order issued this month provides Harden with full legal and physical authority over his son’s upbringing and medical care.
A Push for Legislative Change
The case has sparked a broader conversation about parental rights in Georgia. Currently, a biological father’s name on a birth certificate or a positive DNA test is insufficient to establish legal parenthood if the parents are unmarried. The father must “legitimize” the child through a specific legal process to gain the right to inherit or seek custody.
Harden and his legal team are now advocating for “Chance’s Law” or similar reforms that would streamline the process for biological fathers to be recognized as legal parents, especially in cases of maternal death or incapacitation.
“I just look at him, I see his mama,” Harden shared. “He’s got a lot of life and a lot of spirit. I just want to keep that going.”
As Chance continues to grow and recover from his premature birth, Harden remains focused on his son’s health while hoping his legal struggle prevents other families from facing the same uncertainty.
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