TAMPA, Fla. — Across the street from a Hillsborough County school, parked on the side of the road, Christopher Emanuel and Ulysess Carwise met for the first time—strangers with a strange bond.
Both men were single when their then-girlfriends got pregnant. And after the women gave birth, they gave their daughters up for adoption without the knowledge or consent of the fathers.
Both intended, expected, and made plans to raise their daughters once they were born. Both fathers attempted to establish their rights. Both fought private adoption agencies and prospective adoptive parents in court.
A judge granted Emanuel custody of his daughter within a matter of months in South Carolina. Carwise, who lives in Tampa, is still fighting more than five years later.
"I just wanted to let you know you’re inspiring me, bro. Had to come down and show some support," Emanuel told Carwise, who was getting ready to put in some overtime hours doing maintenance work. The money — needed to pay legal bills in an ongoing fight for custody of his now 5-year-old daughter.
Seeing the ABC Action News I-Team's story on Carwise compelled Emanuel to make a trip to Florida.
"I know what it’s like to be on the other side," Emanuel told Carwise. “I just want you to just know that you’re not by yourself.”
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Emanuel told the I-Team, watching Carwise's story, he saw so much pain but so much love.
"I saw a responsible dad who deserves to be involved and engaged in his child’s life. There’s so many other children out here to adopt. That don’t have families," Emanuel said.
A private adoption agency took Carwise's daughter two days after she was born without his knowledge or consent. The prospective adoptive family has had custody of his daughter for five years.
The case highlights the fight unwed fathers can face when up against private adoption agencies and families wanting a baby.
“In this great nation, there’s a baby market," Emanuel said. “Just because those who are interested in adopting wanted the child or feel they have more money than the putative father or the biological father, that doesn’t necessarily make them a better parent.”
Christopher Emanuel's Fight
“There’s really no words that can describe what I felt at that time," Emanuel said, reflecting on his own story.
His sister and her best friend encouraged him to sign up for South Carolina's Responsible Father Registry when they sensed his girlfriend pulling away.
“Nobody knows about the registry," Emanuel said.
And few people know about Florida's Putative Father Registry. The Florida Department of Health website states, "The purpose of the registry is to permit 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."
Related Story: Little-known Florida list makes it easier to remove an unmarried birth father's rights
Emanuel's daughter was born before her due date, on Feb. 11, 2014, given up for adoption and placed with prospective adoptive parents in another state within a matter of days before he even knew she was born. He found out when he got a knock at his door, and paperwork alerted him to the adoption.
“I didn’t know where my daughter was, I didn’t know if she was safe, I didn’t know if I would see her again, and I didn’t understand why," Emanuel said.
He said the only way he was able to intervene was because he had registered on his state's responsible fathers registry.
A judge granted Emanuel custody, and on May 3, 2014, he brought his little girl home.
The next year, Emanuel established The Sky is the Limit Foundation, a nonprofit that helps educate fathers on their rights. He also talked about a push to create a national registry.
“We’re traveling state-to-state and speaking with our lawmakers about a National Responsible Father Registry, and what that’ll do is create a database in connection to all of the states, and most importantly, be able to promote the National Responsible Father Registry, and we can really track these kids and see where they’re going," Emanuel told the I-Team. "What are we doing to make sure that we are supporting the dads and enforcing the laws to help these dads get their children back.”
Ulysess Carwise's Fight Continues
After Emanuel met Carwise, Carwise had another hearing in Orlando. The I-Team went to Orlando to meet with Carwise after the closed hearing. We learned that Carwise is now getting more frequent, longer in-person visits with his daughter. He continues to fight to raise her himself.
“I’m just happy. I’m happy right now," Carwise said after the hearing.
When asked what it was like learning that he will get more quality time with his daughter, he said, "I fell in love with that. I’m happy on that. That’s the best news I heard yet.”
Related Story: New Florida law to give more parental rights to unmarried biological fathers
Bernard Jennings, the South Florida father behind the "Good Dad Act," a new state law that gives more parental rights to unmarried fathers, made the trip from Miami to the courthouse in Orlando to show Carwise his support.
The I-Team contacted the attorney for the prospective adoptive parents for comment on the latest court hearing and did not hear back.
This story came from a tip. If you have something you’d like the I-Team to investigate, email kylie.mcgivern@wfts.com.
