Anybody adopt stepchild with an absent parent?

lizChesnut

My daughter is 6 since she was barely two when i came into her life. I've been the only female parent in her life. Mom has occasionally popped in made promises she's never kept and then disappeared for 6,or 9+months at a time. My husband has full legal custody of our daughter. I have in the back of my head, what if something happened to him (accident)? I worry cps would show up and take MY daughter and send her with the bio mom who for many reasons puts her in a potentially dangerous environment. Anybody on here ever deal with adopting a stepchild with an absent parent? Everything is okay now and I worry if the process will be hard on my daughter or if the bio mom will flare up against it in some way....? Idk it's all new to me. I think it scares my husband too

alanna3622

@lizChesnut I doubt you will be successful with serving notice of an application to adopt - the biggest hurdle in adoption in this situation. If you contact as law firm they often use people called "skips" or "skip tracers" to assist with service. Adoption essentially means stripping biomom of her rights forever and that is pretty extreme, regardless of how she has chosen to live her life to date. (Not defending her, just explaining why fair notice is so essential for adoption applications.)

In the meantime, your husband should have a will that designates you as the Guardian. It is not binding, and as judge will rule how he feels is necessary, but it is highly persuasive.

Hope that helps. Good luck.