Mississippi law provides that a father’s rights as a parent can be terminated if he fails to see his child for a long period of time. For a child over three, a father can have his rights terminated if he has had no contact with his child for a year. For a child under three, the period is only six months.
Significantly, a father can lose his parental rights for failure to see his child, even if he fights the court action on the ground he wants to be a father to the child. This is very significant and a warning to all fathers who sleep on their rights for even a brief period of some months.
Fuller v. Weidner, No. 2013-CA–00963–COA (Decided 09/16/14).