In Re. Adoption of K.M.K., d.o.b. 11/16/97, and K.L.K., d.o.b. 4/30/01 Jeffrey Lee Eneix, Keri Ann Eneix and Chantille Marie Kares v. Stephen John Kares and Sean Laura

This is an adoption and termination of parental rights case. The maternal grandparents of the two children at issue filed this petition requesting that the rights of the children’s father be terminated and that the grandparents be permitted to adopt the children. The mother of the children joined in the petition. The petitioners alleged that the father’s rights should be terminated based on his abandonment for failing to visit or support the children for a period of four months preceding his incarceration. After a hearing, the trial court found three grounds on which to terminate the father’s parental rights: abandonment, persistent conditions, and the length of the father’s prison term. The trial court also found that the children’s best interest would be served by terminating the father’s parental rights. The father now appeals, claiming that the trial court erred in terminating his rights based on abandonment. We affirm the trial court’s decision, because the father did not challenge the other two grounds on which his rights were terminated, and the termination of the his rights based on those grounds must stand.