[scandi]

I know of a young woman who recently was able to get the birth father to reliqunish his rights in exchange for her dropping all of the child support he owed. She then filed a petition in court with her husband for him to adopt her daughter. Check with your states rules and laws. I would think as a college student you may even be able to get some no cost legal advice.


You may also be able to file the petition on your own without an attorney and when you get a court hearing you can request that the Judge order that a publication notice be placed in the paper covering his last known address. In my state once publication is made and there is still no response from the parent the court can proceed for a default order and terminate the parental rights. Have all of your information for the Judge on why you want this to happen and put as much of it in the petition as you can - not just you want to change the last name. The more info you have the better off you should be.