[beck03]

I am a Stepparent to my 15 yr son, that i have been raising since he was five, his birth mother has lost all of her parental rights when his Father got full custody of him back in "97" but at the time we were not married so my name was not put on the custody order, and now we are divorced but i still am very involved in my son's life and take care of him.I made the commitment to him all those years ago and he will always be my son.I feel it is time to make it legal, his Father and i are still very good friends and we want to know what are our first step is for myself to adopt my son?

[wife2grumpy]

I would think if both parties are willing to do the adoption,have an atty. draw up papers and sign them.

I at the moment have custody of my 15 month old great nephew. If and when my niece loses her parental rights, I want to adopt him.

good luck

[stepadoptionblog]

Getting full custody is different than having a parent's rights terminated. If the biological mothers rights were never terminated by the courts than she may still block the adoption. If her rights were in fact legally terminated than you need to call a lawyer and he can give you the details on what you will need to have in order to complete the adoption.

If the biological mom's rights were not terminated, but she has not had contact with the child in over 6 months to a year (depending on where you live) then you can file for a TPR (termination of parental rights) and then for an adoption. This will take longer, but the end result will be the same.

Kuddos to you for sticking it out and staying in your stepsons life through thick and thin, it takes a very strong and loving person to do so.

Stepparent Adoption Blog

[beck03]

Thank You for the info, now it's finding a lawyer with some credit and ability.