Okla. Stat. tit. 10, § 10-7501-1.3: Definitions

As used in the Oklahoma Adoption Code:

1. “Abandonment” includes, but is not limited to, the

following:

a. the parent has left the minor alone or in the care of

another who is not the parent of the minor without

identifying the minor or furnishing a means of

identification for the minor, the whereabouts of the

parents are unknown, and the minor's identity cannot

be ascertained by the exercise of reasonable

diligence,

b. the parent has voluntarily left the minor alone or in

the care of another who is not the parent of the minor

and expressed a willful intent by words, actions, or

omissions not to return for the minor, or

c. the parent fails to maintain a substantial and

positive relationship with the minor for a period of

six (6) consecutive months out of the last fourteen

(14) months immediately preceding the filing of a

petition for termination of parental rights. For

purposes of this section, “establish and/or maintain a

substantial, positive relationship” includes but is

not limited to:

(1) frequent and regular contact with the minor

through frequent and regular visitation or

frequent, regular communication to or with the

minor, and

(2) exercising parental rights and responsibilities.

Incidental or token visits or communications

shall not be sufficient to establish or maintain

a substantial and positive relationship with the

minor.

The term "abandonment" shall not include when a parent has

relinquished a minor to or placed the minor in the custody of a

licensed child-placing agency or other court-appointed individual;

2. "Adoptee" means an individual who is adopted or is to be

adopted;

3. "Adult" means an individual who has attained eighteen (18)

years of age;

4. "Minor" means any person who has not attained the age of

eighteen (18) years;

5. "Child-placing agency" means any child welfare agency

licensed pursuant to the Oklahoma Child Care Facilities Licensing

Act and authorized to place minors for adoption;

6. "Contested proceeding" means any proceeding pursuant to the

Oklahoma Adoption Code in which an interested party enters an

appearance to contest the petition;

7. "Department" means the Department of Human Services;

8. "Direct placement adoption" means any adoption in which the

minor is not placed for adoption by the Department of Human Services

or a child-placing agency. A stepparent or relative adoption shall

not be considered a direct placement adoption;

9. "Guardian" means an individual, other than a parent,

appointed by a court to be the guardian of the person of a minor;

10. "Parent" means an individual who is the biological or

adoptive parent of a child or who is legally recognized as a mother

or father of a child. The term "parent" does not include an

individual whose parental relationship to a child has been

terminated;

11. "Permanent relinquishment" means the voluntary surrender of

the rights of the parent or guardian with respect to a minor,

including legal and physical custody of the minor, to a child-

placing agency, Department of Human Services or any person with the

assent of the court, by a minor's parent or guardian, for purposes

of the minor's adoption;

12. "Putative father" means the father of a minor born out of

wedlock or a minor whose mother was married to another person at the

time of the birth of the minor or within the ten (10) months prior

to the birth of the minor and includes, but is not limited to, a man

who has acknowledged or claims paternity of a minor, a man named by

the mother of the minor to be the father of the minor, or any man

who is alleged to have engaged in sexual intercourse with a woman

during a possible time of conception;

13. “Relative adoption” means the placement of a child for

adoption with a parent, grandparent, stepparent, brother, sister,

first cousin, nephew, niece, uncle or aunt, who is related to the

child by either birth or marriage;

he mother of the minor to be the father of the minor, or any man

who is alleged to have engaged in sexual intercourse with a woman

during a possible time of conception;

13. “Relative adoption” means the placement of a child for

adoption with a parent, grandparent, stepparent, brother, sister,

first cousin, nephew, niece, uncle or aunt, who is related to the

child by either birth or marriage;

14. "State" means any state, territory, or possession of the

United States, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the District of

Columbia; and

15. "Stepparent" means an individual who is the spouse or

surviving spouse of a parent of a minor, but who is not a legal

parent of the minor.