I live in MI. My daughter has no father on her birth certificate. I know who her blood father is but he is a very unstable individual and not fit to be a parent. He is aware of her and has not made any effort to see her. My boyfriend now loves her and treats her like his own. If we were to get married, would he be able to adopt her?

I don't know about state laws, but in my experience when my husband adopted my daughter (her father is on the BC but had abandoned her) because he was on the Birth Certificate we had to publish an ad in our local newspaper stating that she was going to be adopted. When he did not come forward to protest then the adoption went through. Since you have no father on the BC I'm thinking there will be no problem with him adopting her.

Good luck to you.
Michelle

When friend of mine got married and her husband wanted to "adopt" her daughter, since there wasn't a father listed on her daughter's birth certificate, she had him added. Not saying that is legal but that is what she did.

Yes your boyfriend can adopt if the bio parent does not object.

But first you have to meet the requirements. ANY question about law needs to include your general locale as laws vary by area. Since you didn't give your locale we can't tell you what those requirements are. Most areas do require you be married for a step parent adoption. All areas do require that the other parent agree to it. If you don't know who the bio father is or where they are, there are ways to make a good faith effort to contact them like Michelle mentioned. But that would only be used if you don't know how to contact the father. If you used such a method and it turned out you knew where the father was, the adoption could be overturned.

What I suggest is that, after you are married, you consult an attorney. Its best to use an attorney to make sure the petition is prepared properly and all laws are complied with.