LaBrec v. Davis

In LaBrec v. Davis, 243 Ga. App. 307, 312-313 (2) (534 SE2d 84) (2000) the Court reversed a juvenile court order granting a biological father's petition to legitimate. In LaBrec, the Court found that the biological father's "opportunity interest" in the child commenced "about nine months before the child's birth" even though the mother falsely claimed that another man was the father and that man's name appeared on the child's birth certificate. LaBrec, supra at 311 (1). While the LaBrec majority conceded that its decision would have been the same even if it were to "assume, as does the dissent, that the clock did not start ticking on the biological father's 'opportunity interest' until the date he discovered that he was the father," the majority also made it clear that a biological father's actions before such date could also be considered. For example, the Court found that the biological father "offered no evidence to suggest he ever attempted to ascertain whether the unprotected intercourse in which he admittedly engaged with the mother had culminated in a pregnancy." Id. at 310 (1)