Adoption of Minor Child

[MRMC]

I want to adopt my wife's child as my daughter. I will be filing a joint I751 shortly and wish to file for adoption. The problem is getting the consent of her natural parent. We have no idea where he is. I know I can file papers stating I made a diligent search. Has anyone gone through this. What newspapers do I place an ad. Chinese or American. I would have no idea locating a person in China.

[MRMC]

By the way, I am an attorney; however, I am not a family attorney. I handled the immigration matters before; however, I am totally new to family law but want to do it myself.

[Tine & Ella]

MRMC,

 

I just completed the adoption process of my stepdaughter this past November, it took just over 10 months to complete. I know every state has a different process, My Atty. placed an add in a small local paper for 3 weeks stating my intent for the adoption. We had no idea where the natural father was, he had not seen her since the age of 2. Then had to have extensive home inspection and 2 different interviews for some reason it is the same process as being a foster parent. If you have futher questions about our process feel free to PM me and I can give you my phone number.

 

Tine & Ella

[rogerinca]

1. LeeFisher3 has recent direct experience in this regard; if I recall correctly ??

 

2. My ex and I adopted two special needs children, as Foster Parents, here in CA, a few years ago. We did all the paperwork (legal forms) and filing ourselves, and then attended a brief court hearing in our county. I am sure you can accomplish this very easily, yourself. Procedures may vary from state to state.

 

3. With respect to the birth father not being available or locatable, how was this presented at your Lao Po’s interview time ?? Was there a previous marriage and then a divorce ?? Was there any documentation presented at interview, in addition to the birth certificate ??

 

I will be facing the same situation, when I adopt my daughter, after her and Lao Po arrive later in the spring. Birth father is nowhere to be found.

Edited January 23, 2008 by rogerinca (see edit history)

[LeeFisher3]

The process is different for each state, you will need to check with a few attorneys to determine what is required.

 

Here is our experience Adoption of a Step child

[MRMC]

My wife does have full custody. Thus, maybe notification will not even be required.