You may be able to complete the adoption on your own, call your local court house and ask if you must have a lawyer to complete the adoption. If you do not know where the birth father is, then you will need to publish a public notice in the paper. The notice will run about 30 days, with an extra week or so allowance time for him to respond to the notice of intent to adopt. If he does not respond to the notice then you can proceed with the the adoption as though he consented.
Not all states require a homestudy, we were luckly enough to reside in one that does not, so I am not sure on the rules. Most states that do require a homestudy for a stepparent adoption do have a streamlined process when it comes to the homestudy.
Make sure that you call more than one attorney, some have set prices for stepparent adoptions, and others charge by the hour. Just because one sets a huge price tag does not mean that all of them do.
If you are asking if you can simply put your current husbands name on the birth certificate and pretend that he is the birth father, the answer is no. If you wish for him to adopt her, then you are going to have to go through the entire legal process. Shop around for attorneys, you may be able to find one who is willing to cut you a break on price. Some lawyers will charge less by letting you do most of the paperwork. Do not give up hope....all adoptions are nerve wrecking but worth it in the end. Worst case scenerio get a new credit card and use it for the adoption expenses and then pay it off over time.
check out the
Stepparent Adoption Blog for more information on stepparent adoption.