[dawnjoy]

I have been married almost two years now and have a 12yr old daughter whom my husband wants to adopt. The BF has not paid child support or had any contact for a year....where do I start?

[jwells]

The best place to start is terminating parental rights. My husband and I have been married for over 3 years and he has custody of his 10 yr old daughter. I have been her mother for over 3 yrs,her bio mother hasn't seen her in 30 months. My stepdaughter calls me mama. We went today to terminate her bio mothers rights. It was quite easy. We had proof of abandonment.And we don't know where she is, so she didn't show. It can be costly. The Lord provided for us so we knew it was his will. My daughter wants me to adopt her and that is our next step. First, find an attorney and file the petition for termination of parental rights. If you are unsure of the bio parents whereabouts, you will probably have to publish an ad in the paper for 4 weeks. Just to cover yourself and say you tried to reach him. If you know where the parent is, then you have to notify them by mail. That could be the hard part if he contests to it. But trust God, if it's his will it will happen. Trust me, he worked it out smoothly for us. I hope this helps. Please keep me informed. God bless