Florida Father Fights For Daughter Placed for Adoption

This is a 2022 case.

Brandon “Marteliz’s only child is a daughter he has never met.

“I had books for her, a few toys, tons of clothes. I’m getting ready to give them away because I know they’re not going to fit her anymore,” Marteliz said.

His daughter will turn two in January.

Marteliz took a picture with his child’s mother two days before she gave birth.

“Hands on her, talking to my daughter through her stomach. You know, I was there, I was with her,” Marteliz said. “We had her name picked out and everything.””

“The day before their daughter was born, he texted to ask if she was going to the hospital the next day. She said she thought so. He responded by asking if she was going to come outside and when she was going. No response.”

“Then, Marteliz said, “I was told that my daughter passed away.”

In a court filing, Marteliz said the mother of his child told him the child had died due to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

“I couldn’t accept it. I needed to see,” Marteliz said. “I’m going to hospitals, and they’re calling security on me because I’m in here looking for my daughter. And I can’t find her.”

Then, nearly three weeks after their daughter was born, the mother sent two texts to Marteliz: “I have her” and “I got the baby.”

That news marked the start of a new nightmare for Marteliz, with him texting her, “I wanna see my baby.”

“I found out from a CPS lady that there was a baby that was born, a newborn that was alive. And I reached out to someone that worked for her. The adoption agency that she told me about,” Marteliz said. “I felt like okay, well I’m the father, I’m her dad, I can take a test, I can prove I’m her dad, my daughter’s alive.””

“Marteliz is fighting for custody while the child is with prospective adoptive parents through the agency Heart of Adoptions .

According to court documents, the day after his baby was born before he said he even knew it, the mother consented to adoption and named Marteliz as a “man who may have interest in the minor child.”

Court documents show the adoption agency said the termination of parental rights was not required because they were not married, he wasn’t listed on the birth certificate, was not on the putative father registry, a little-known state registry for fathers to claim paternity, and had, “not paid a fair and reasonable amount of living and medical expenses” in connection with the pregnancy and birth.”

“They were trying to ask me if I would — that she’s going to a great home and all this, and I, I couldn’t hear that. I cut off, I said no she’s not. Over my dead body, she’s not,” Marteliz said of his conversation with Heart of Adoptions.

He filed a petition to determine paternity and filled out the registry the same month his daughter was born.

“I am willing to do whatever it takes to be given custody of my daughter and be in her life,” Marteliz wrote in court records. “I am willing to pay whatever form or support or cost it takes.””

The day before their daughter was born, he texted to ask if she was going to the hospital the next day. She said she thought so. He responded by asking if she was going to come outside and when she was going. No response.

Then, Marteliz said, “I was told that my daughter passed away.”

In a court filing, Marteliz said the mother of his child told him the child had died due to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

“I couldn’t accept it. I needed to see,” Marteliz said. “I’m going to hospitals, and they’re calling security on me because I’m in here looking for my daughter. And I can’t find her.”

Then, nearly three weeks after their daughter was born, the mother sent two texts to Marteliz: “I have her” and “I got the baby.”

That news marked the start of a new nightmare for Marteliz, with him texting her, “I wanna see my baby.”

“I found out from a CPS lady that there was a baby that was born, a newborn that was alive. And I reached out to someone that worked for her. The adoption agency that she told me about,” Marteliz said. “I felt like okay, well I’m the father, I’m her dad, I can take a test, I can prove I’m her dad, my daughter’s alive.”

Marteliz is fighting for custody while the child is with prospective adoptive parents through the agency Heart of Adoptions.

According to court documents, the day after his baby was born before he said he even knew it, the mother consented to adoption and named Marteliz as a “man who may have interest in the minor child.”

Court documents show the adoption agency said the termination of parental rights was not required because they were not married, he wasn’t listed on the birth certificate, was not on the putative father registry, a little-known state registry for fathers to claim paternity, and had, “not paid a fair and reasonable amount of living and medical expenses” in connection with the pregnancy and birth.

“They were trying to ask me if I would — that she’s going to a great home and all this, and I, I couldn’t hear that. I cut off, I said no she’s not. Over my dead body, she’s not,” Marteliz said of his conversation with Heart of Adoptions.

He filed a petition to determine paternity and filled out the registry the same month his daughter was born.

“I am willing to do whatever it takes to be given custody of my daughter and be in her life,” Marteliz wrote in court records. “I am willing to pay whatever form or support or cost it takes.”

Marteliz denied he was aware of the mother’s adoption plan in May 2021, and denied he provided no financial support during her pregnancy. He stated he didn’t maintain contact with the child because the mother and the “adoption people” prevented it.

The I-Team contacted the attorney for the adoption agency, who said “Mr. Marteliz was afforded every right he was entitled to under the law, and that the court simply reached a decision that Mr. Marteliz disagrees with.”

“I understand there’s people that might not be able to have kids and they might need kids but they can have the ones that people are not able to take care of, I can take care of my baby,” Marteliz said.

Marteliz owns a business, IRIE Trees.

David Hurvitz, Marteliz’s attorney, said it’s a fight with a law that favors adoption agencies.

“It’s very difficult to navigate it and it’s hard to fight against it, it needs reform,” Hurvitz said.”

Father fights for baby girl, placed for adoption without his knowledge or consent
[Tampa Bay 28 12/14/23 by Kylie McGivern]

“Brandon Marteliz of Florida planned great things for his daughter. Sadly, she recently turned 3 years old and he’s never seen her, held her, or heard her call him dada.

When he split from the child’s mother shortly before the baby’s birth, she decided to put the baby up for adoption without his consent.

He spoke to the baby’s mother two days before she went into labor, telling her that he wanted to be there when the baby was born. Brandon named the little girl Amiya. She was born on January 10, 2022.

Amiya’s mother did not call Brandon when she went into labor. She instead told him the baby died from SIDS shortly after her birth.

Unsatisfied with this answer, Brandon, with help from loved ones, started searching for the baby. He soon learned the day after Amiya’s birth, her mother, upset about their split, placed her for adoption with an agency called Heart of Adoption.

Brandon hoped the agency could help him. They instead reassured him the baby would be raised by a great family.

He petitioned the court for custody of baby Amiya.

Sadly, in 2023, a judge determined the adoption could proceed, ruling Brandon had no rights to the child because he did not provide any financial or medical support since her birth.

Brandon says he’ll never stop fighting for his daughter.

I’m unsure how a judge expected him to care for a child its mother claimed was dead.”

[Criminal Matters 4/15/25 FaceBook]