Q: My fiancé has raised my oldest daughter since she was 4 and now he wants to adopt her. How can I start the process?
Her biological father has sent $50 in 4 years and she has not seen or talked to him since 2013. I went to domestic relations to try and get child support and they could not find him so they closed my case. Do we need his consent? In the state of Pennsylvania is no contact or support considered abandonment?
A: Either he would need to consent or you would need to terminate parental rights. Consult an attorney who handles family practice matters in your county.
Kathryn Hilbush agrees with this answer
A: In PA, grounds for involuntary termination of parental rights in conjunction with an adoption include a failure to perform parental duties for a period of six months or more. It would seem that the father has not performed parental duties in a far longer period of time than that. You do not have to be married to adopt, but I will tell you that judges want to know that the prospective adoptive parent has a real commitment to raising the child and marriage is one way to demonstrate that.
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