A mother with Lupus voluntarily terminated her parental rights so her parents could adopt her child. But the mother intended to maintain her parental role. The move was designed to ensure that if the mother’s condition were fatal, the child would remain with the grandparents and stay in a stable environment. Meanwhile, the father petitioned for visitation and custody after being in-and-out of the child’s life. He argued the proposed adoption was a contrived effort to deprive him of his parental rights. But the orphans’ court disagreed and terminated both parents’ parental rights. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed and held that the evidence was insufficient to establish the grounds for termination of the father’s parental rights under 23 Pa.C.S. §2511(a)(1).
