We have no idea of the circumstances under which the child was conceived (thank God), no idea why the parents didn't marry.
Actually, Julia, we do know that little salacious detail. The child's father was married to another woman at the time, and they were separated. Subsequent to conceiving the girl, the father reunited with his wife.
And my point is that we have no idea why there was no contact.
Agreed. All we really know is that there was in fact no contact. The child does not know this man, who calls himself her father. She knows her foster father as her father. Ten thousand legitimate reasons for not having been in her life do not change that.
I mean, if Madonna said, hey I will raise your child in luxury with the finest education, etc., should that give her custody if she can show that you work too many hours to spend much time with him or her?
An interesting example you picked there, Phil. I'm sure you know about Madonna's African child? And the child's biological father?
But I would offer this as a more generic answer: if my child called some other man "Daddy" and couldn't pick me out of a lineup, I wouldn't be fighting for custody.
