Florida dad, Brandon Marteliz, fighting for custody of daughter put up for adoption by mother

A Florida man is fighting for custody of his daughter who he has never met after he claimed the child’s mother put her up for adoption while telling him the infant had died.

Brandon Marteliz has been in a legal battle to be in his daughter Amiya’s life since she was born two years ago, when he says the baby’s mother decided to cut ties with him and hide the baby.

“I was told that my daughter passed away,” Marteliz told WFTS, claiming the mom said their child had died from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) shortly after her birth in January 2022.

Marteliz says he was heartbroken as he had just been with the woman, even posing for a picture together with his hand placed on her pregnant belly, two days before the baby was due.

The father had texted the woman the day before the birth asking if she was going to the hospital, but he never got a response back.

A day after giving birth, the woman had consented to the adoption of her child, naming Marteliz as a “man who may have interest in the minor child,” according to ABC Action News, citing court documents.

Because the adoption was authorized by the mother, Marteliz couldn’t be granted custody of the child, the adoption agency said, arguing that the father hadn’t “paid a fair and reasonable amount of living and medical expenses” associated with the pregnancy and birth.

Nearly three weeks after being told his child had died, the baby’s mother texted him saying “I have her” and “I got the baby.”

Marteliz told the outlet he pleaded with the mother to see his child, but his request went unanswered.

Instead, he was contacted by a Child Protective Services agent, who informed him there was a newborn baby girl who was alive and was being cared for by an adoption agency.

“I felt like, ‘OK, well, I’m the father, I’m her dad, I can take a test, I can prove I’m her dad, my daughter’s alive,’” Marteliz told the outlet.

Marteliz was ready to welcome his first child, who will be 2 in January, after buying her toys and clothes and setting up a bedroom, just for her.

“I had books for her, a few toys, tons of clothes. I’m getting ready to give them away because I know they’re not going to fit her anymore,” the heartbroken dad said.

As Marteliz’s fight enters its third year, prospective adoption parents have custody of his daughter through a private adoption agency based in Florida.

Marteliz denied knowing about the woman’s plan to put his daughter up for adoption back in May 2021.

The mother and the adoption agency didn’t need to request to terminate Marteliz’s parental rights as the child’s parents were never married, he was never named on the birth certificate, nor was never listed on the putative father registry.

The registry is a little-known law in 22 states that “permits a man alleging to be the unmarried biological father of a child to preserve his right to notice and consent in the event of an adoption.”

“There’s a real problem, and good fathers are losing rights and losing time,” Marteliz said, adding that he has filed a petition to determine paternity and filled out the registry the month his daughter was born.

Marteliz’s attorney blasted the Florida law, saying it favored adoption agencies instead of parents.

“It’s very difficult to navigate it and it’s hard to fight against it, it needs reform,” David Hurvitz said.

The adoption agency argued Marteliz was given every chance allowed by law and is only arguing because the court’s decision doesn’t favor him.