In Re Baby Girl Clausen

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant a further stay to the DeBoers in July of 1993. The parental rights doctrine and "best interests of the child" standards continue to be inconsistently applied in child custody cases. The parental rights doctrine maintains that a biological parent is presumed to be the best parent until they are affirmatively shown as unfit. Through the 1990s, a trend toward considering the best interest of the child grew as promoted in Clausen's dissenting opinion. Despite this trend, Iowa courts in Clausen declared they could not, and should not, consider the interests of the child, maintaining throughout that only if Dan Schmidt was determined to be unfit as a parent could the courts consider the interests of the child. By deferring to Iowa, the Michigan Supreme Court decision refused to consider evidence of a psychological relationship between the child and third parties. Critics argued the child was treated merely as property rather than as a person with fundamental rights.

Three other child custody decisions were handed down in the month following the Clausen ruling, further contributing to the confusion surrounding custody cases. In Twigg v. Mays, a Florida circuit court determined that a 14-year-old girl, accidentally switched at birth with another baby in the hospital, could not be forced to visit her biological parents. The court ruled that "mere" biological ties were not sufficient to determine the legal parents, and that the only father she has ever known was not just her "psychological" father, but her legal father as well. A few days later, a Florida appellate court allowed a 12-year-old boy to sever ties with his birth-mother under advisement of several adults and a court-appointed guardian. A Vermont court order exemplified the confusion surrounding custody cases. A judge ordered a birth certificate of a nine-month-old boy changed to reflect the names of the adoptive mother and the biological father, although the father was not aware of the adoption until six weeks after the birth.

The ability of biological parents to win custody varies from state to state. Some states allow parents up to two years to return and claim either fraud or duress in order to win back a child. In Iowa, where the Schmidts lived, court rulings allow fathers to "come back at any point in the child's life."

Conflicting local rulings and legislation prompted many adoption agencies and children's rights advocates to press the Clausen case to the U.S. Supreme Court. They argued that only clear guidance set forth by the Court could produce predictable and consistent lower court rulings. As the twentieth century closed, the uncertainty surrounding the rights of biological parents and the best interests of the child continued to complicate the complex and emotional custody cases.