We live in Pennsylvania and I just got married and my husband wants to adopt my 7 year old son. The biological father is not in the picture and has had made no attempt to be a part of my sons life. He is not listed on the birth certificate and I have no idea where he lives. Can I just list my husband on the birth certificate? If not what do I have to do for him to adopt?

Hello nita:

Nahhh. Adoption is a legal procedure, and you don't want to screw it up. I'd consult an attorney.

excon

You'll have to petition the court for a motion to adopt. You'll have to demonstrate to the court that you've made a good faith attempt to locate the father. If you can't locate him then the adoption can proceed without his consent.

We live in Pennsylvania and I just got married and my husband wants to adopt my 7 year old son. The biological father is not in the picture and has had made no attempt to be a part of my sons life. He is not listed on the birth certificate and I have no idea where he lives. Can I just list my husband on the birth certificate? If not what do I have to do for him to adopt?
I am currently in the same boat as you are and all you would have to do is just have him sign it. Now if something was to happen to you two later on... he has as much rights to the child as you do. So it could go bad or it couldn't. My suggestion is to go over all the pro's and con's before making any dissions. My best friend let me answer this one cause I was here before looking for advice and mine turned out good, so god bless to you and your family.

It has to be done in the courts. There are some states that allow you to do the paper work yourself, then it still has to be done through the courts. Check on the internet and you can find information about your state and what to do. My husband adopted my daughter and her father was around, but he had not paid child support for a few years. The legality of the situation was, he had to bring all child support current. He could not. Where you have not heard from him, you will have an easy road. Good luck.

Everyone is right - it has to be done legally and have the court documents. You cannot just place your husband's name on the birth certificate.
Check this site out on terminating parental rights in PA:
Grounds for Termination of Parental Rights Pennsylvania - (http://library.adoption.com/termination-of-parental-rights/grounds-for-termination-of-parental-rights-pennsylvania/article/8648/1.html)

You are going to need to make an attempt to find the bio father... it is usually you just placing an ad in local newspaper announcing you intent to have your husband adopt your child. The courts in your area will tell you what newspapers and how long to run the ad. If no one responds then you can go ahead with the adoption :)