If a father is not the child’s biological parent, could that impact his ability to get custody of this child?

It really depends on what the father wants. The short answer is no, because ultimately if that father loves that child, even if it’s not his biological child, that’s not going to impact whether or not he can get full custody or even exercise his parenting rights. The courts really don’t care who the biological father happens to be. The courts care about who the psychological parent happens to be. If that dad is a psychological parent and wants to continue that relationship with that child, no court is going to stand in the way of that.

Rosalyn Charles is a family lawyer practicing in Newark, New Jersey.