[Katran]

I married in January and my husband and I want him to be able to adopt my daughter from a previous relationship. Her father has never been involved at all, and in fact doesn't even know she exists and I don't know how to contact him (it's a long and embarrassing story). Where do we start with this? We talked to someone with the state and they said we have to basically follow all the same steps as if we were adopting regularly. She also said they wouldn't even allow us to file until we'd had a consultation with a lawyer. We're not sure we can afford all that. My husband has been in my daughter's life for years and is the only father she's ever known. Why do they have to make this so difficult? Does anyone have any experience with adopting a stepchild in Arizona?