K. a Baby Girl

In April of 1974 an unwed mother gave birth to a baby girl, whom we shall call K. The young mother was unable to care for the child, and she relinquished her parental rights to the Nueces County Child Welfare Unit of the Department of Public Welfare. The Child Welfare Unit took responsibility as soon as the baby was released from the hospital, providing her with foster care and locating suitable adoptive parents. The instant legal proceeding was initiated to terminate the parent-child relationship, to afford the father of the child an opportunity to be heard if he wished, and for the designation of the Child Welfare Unit as managing conservator of the child as a predicate for ultimate adoption.