Jad Abumrad (host) / main Radiolab host voice

his parental rights.

Would you sign your rights over?

You guys are texting this or are you talking?

The whole time we're text messaging this because she wouldn't talk to me.

What did you think it meant?

To me, I just thought she wanted me to sign my rights over to her and I'm like, this is something I really don't want to do.

He says she kept texting him that question

And looming in his mind was the fact that he just learned.

We were going to be going to Iraq to do a radar mission, so... And he starts to wonder, what's the right thing to do here?

And he says that he's holding out hope that if he does make it back... We'll get back together and she'll just change her mind.

Finally, I just told her, I was like, all right, I'll sign my rights over.

Months go by.

Christy has the baby.

He says he doesn't know exactly when because they weren't speaking.

But then... Six days before I had to go deploy to Iraq, I get a phone call from some guy in Washington County.

A process server.

Said, hey, we need you to sign some papers so you can sign your custody rights over.

And the guy directed him to an office right near the base.

Went there and...

signed the paper, and... What did you think it meant?