West Virginia Code § 48-22-306

Conduct presumptively constituting abandonment
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(a) Abandonment of a child over the age of six months shall be presumed when the birth
parent:
(1) Fails to financially support the child within the means of the birth parent; and
(2) Fails to visit or otherwise communicate with the child when he or she knows where the
child resides, is physically and financially able to do so and is not prevented from doing so by
the person or authorized agency having the care or custody of the child: Provided, That such
failure to act continues uninterrupted for a period of six months uimmediately preceding the
filing of the adoption petition.
(b) Abandonment of a child under the age of six months shall be presumed when the birth
father: a
(1) Denounces the child's paternity any time after clonception;
(2) Fails to contribute within his means toward the expense of the prenatal and postnatal
care of the mother and the postnatal care of the child;
(3) Fails to financially support the child within father's means; and
(4) Fails to visit the child whene he knows where the child resides: Provided, That such
denunciations and failure to act continue uninterrupted from the time that the birth father
was told of the conceptiLon of the child until the time the petition for adoption was filed.
(c) Abandonment of a child shall be presumed when the unknown father fails, prior to the
entry of the final adoption order, to make reasonable efforts to discover that a pregnancy
and birth have occurred as a result of his sexual intercourse with the birth mother.
(d) WNotwithstanding any provision in this section to the contrary, any birth parent shall have
the opportunity to demonstrate to the court the existence of compelling circumstances
preventing said parent from supporting, visiting or otherwise communicating with the child:
Provided, That in no event may incarceration provide such a compelling circumstance if the
crime resulting in the incarceration involved a rape in which the child was conceived.
PART 4. DELIVERY OF CHILD FOR ADOPTION.

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