## Facts

- A 16-year-old mother gave birth on May 5, 1974; the father was 18, and the parents were unmarried.
- On May 30, 1974, the mother placed the newborn with a licensed agency for 30 days of temporary foster care, with the understanding she would either reclaim the child or execute an adoption surrender at the end of the period.
- On June 28, 1974, the mother notified the agency by phone that she wanted to keep the child, but the agency required her to appear immediately with her mother.
- The trial court found the mother reiterated her intent to keep the child but, under agency pressure and threats of harassment and litigation, and without being advised of alternatives, was coerced into signing an adoption surrender within about a half hour.
- The child was placed with prospective adoptive parents on July 9, 1974, and remained with them continuously thereafter due to stays during litigation.
- The father learned of the surrender shortly after it occurred, promptly objected to the agency, and was told he had no role as an unwed father.
- The natural parents later married; after unsuccessful attempts to regain the child informally and delayed legal advice, they filed suit seeking return of the child.

## Issues

1. Whether the mother’s surrender of the child for adoption was invalid because it was obtained through coercion and undue pressure by the agency.
2. If the surrender was invalid, whether custody had to be transferred immediately to the natural parents or instead required a separate determination of the child’s best interests given the child’s extended placement with prospective adoptive parents.
3. How to weigh the natural parents’ fitness and parental interests against the child’s need for stability and continuity of care.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of New Jersey accepted the trial court’s supported findings that the surrender was coerced and therefore invalid.
- The Court left undisturbed the findings that the natural parents were fit.
- The Court set aside the order requiring immediate transfer of custody to the natural parents.
- The Court remanded for a full evidentiary hearing focused on the child’s best interests, with the child to remain temporarily with the prospective adoptive parents pending that determination.

## Legal Principles

- An adoption surrender executed under coercion or undue pressure is invalid.
- Even when a surrender is invalid and the natural parents are fit, custody is not automatically returned if changed circumstances create substantial concerns for the child’s welfare.
- The determinative consideration in custody disputes is the child’s best interests, including the effect of disrupting established emotional bonds and the child’s need for stability.
- Where a child has lived for a substantial period with prospective adoptive parents due to delay and court-ordered stays, a court must conduct a specific best-interests inquiry before ordering a transfer of custody.

## Conclusion

The court held that the agency obtained the mother’s adoption surrender by coercion, but ruled that the remedy could not be an automatic, immediate return of the child; instead, the trial court had to decide custody after a full hearing on the child’s best interests in light of the child’s long-standing placement with the prospective adoptive parents.


Sorentino v. Fam. & Child.’s Soc’y of Elizabeth, 72 N.J. 127, 367 A.2d 1168 (1976)