Q: Signed away my rights to my son as a baby. Now he's 17 and wants contact. His mom is against it. Can he choose?

A: I am going to assume that there is no restraining order that prevents you from having contact with the boy or his mother. Generally speaking there is no law against him contacting you or any other human being on the planet for that matter. However there may be consequences which his mother will impose on him since he is still technically a minor and I assume he is still living in her house. So you don't want to cause problems for him with his mother.

If he picks up the phone and calls you there really isn't any reason why you can't answer the phone and talk to him. I would avoid initiating calls to him if you know his mother is against this. But you aren't breaking any law by answering a call he makes to you. Now making plans to see each other when you know it is against his mother's wishes could possibly get you charged with custodial interference of she calls the police. It is sort of up to the police to decide whether to charge you or not and given that he is 17 they may not care but I wouldn't risk it.

When he turns 18 he will legally be an adult and free to do what he wants. But again, if he is living at home with his mother she may still have house rules he has to follow or he may find himself being asked to move out. So there can be consequences for your son but you can't be charged with custodial interference because he will legally be an adult.

For now tell him he can call you anytime and you would be happy to talk to him. You would love to see him and do things with him but that might have to wait until he turns 18 unless his mother agrees to the meeting. At age 17 he can certainly complain to his mom without your help and who knows, she may let you have more time with him.