Did you know that a father’s parental rights can be terminated without him ever knowing (or for that matter without him even knowing that he’s a father)? Using a process called ‘notice by publication’ or ‘service by publication’ a mother, or a government agency, can publish a notice of intent to terminate parental rights – or to take an action which will have the effect of or lead up to terminating a father’s parental rights – in a local newspaper. After several weeks of running that notice, if the father fails to respond, he’s history.