My cousin is about to have her 8th baby and wants to surrender her rights so my husband and I can be the parents. She has no idea who the father is. What would we have to do to make it official?

Hire an attorney to process an adoption. You will NEED an attorney to handle this.


She has no idea who the father is.
That is unlikely. Unless she was raped or had sex while passed out, she has some idea who she had sex with about the time she conceived. She can narrow conception down to a one month period. Your cousin is going to have to identify all the potential fathers. And they will need to be contacted to be tested and agree to the adoption.

The fact that she can't specify the father makes this more complex and absolutely requires an attorney to do it right. You do not want the father finding out about it a year or so later and getting the adoption overturned.

Is your cousin a drug addict? Are they currently being investigated by CPS? Im asking because that is going to bring a totally different answer to your qustion. Does she have custody of her other children ?