[saur]

I have an unusual question.

My wife was raped at the age of 15 by a family friend over the age of 20, who later joined the armed forces & left. He was never charged with the crime because my wife was afraid to report it. She became pregnant as a result of the rape & gave birth to a little boy, now 5 1/2.

We married a year ago & I raise him as my own, he calls me Daddy. The donor has never attempted to contact my wife or our child, we don't know if he even knows that our son exists. I want to adopt him legally, but am not sure what blocks we'll run into.

Do we have any way around notifying him, as my wife is terrified of him? What recourse do we have if we are forced to notify him & he refuses to sign?

I guess we could still have him charged under sexual abuse of a minor & made to pay back child support if he refused to sign over rights, but we'd rather not involve him at all.

The birth certificate does not have a father listed.

Anyone have any ideas?

[saur]

Anyone have any ideas?

[numbr1dbcksfan]

I believe you can serve him in the newspaper of the last known place he was living. If this was here, and you know he is not here, you cant control that. AZ has a putative fathers registry, chances are that there is no way he signed it. So you would probably have to run it in the newspaper for 30 days and hope he doesnt respond. If he does, chances are the judge would terminate his rights anyway (abandonment laws) and you should be free to adopt.