Legal Question in Family Law in Oregon

Re: Father signing birth certificate?

First, he does not "sign the birth certificate." Rather, you and he can jointly sign a form at the hospital called a "VOLUNTARY ACKKNOWLEDGMENT OF PATERNITY." The hospital will then send the form to Oregon Vital Records, which will then issue a birth certificate with the male signer of the VAP being listed on the birth certificate as the child's father. This procedure results in the biological father of the child born out of wedlock being established as the child's "legal father."

Once legal paternity is established, the legal father has all of the same rights and responsibilities as if you and he were married to one another at the time the child was born and are then going through a divorce, EXCEPT that you will be deemed as having sole legal custody until a court otherwise specifically orders. Issues of custody and visitation, if not agreed upon at the outset, would end up having to be decided by the court (or through an administrative child support proceeding brought by Child Support Enforcement).

You will not lose custody simply because you are on Medicaid. Being on Medicaid does not make you a bad or unfit parent.

Joint custody is not allowed under Oregon law unless BOTH parents are in agreement. And you are under no obligation to to agree. If you object to joint custody (for any reason whatsoever or for no reason at all), the judge cannot force joint custody and, instead must grant sole custody to one parent or the other.

Also, absent some very unusual circumstances, custody of newborns almost always goes to mother.