[sandsamm000]

My boyfriend and I want him to adopt my one year old. We plan on getting married at some point but do not want to be forced into it. She knows him as dad and her biological father was never in the picture and the is no father listed on her birth certificate. Is it possible for him to adopt her without having to be married if there is no legal documentation of her biological father?

[AK lawyer]

So he wants to commit to be her father but doesn't want to commit to be your husband? So what happens when one of you decides the relationship between the two of you is not going to work out? He will be obligated to pay child support and the two of you will have to litigate custody and visitation.

Apparently there are a few places which allow "step-parent" adoptions by someone with whom the biological parent is shacked-up. But fortunately such benighted places are few and far between.

So, in general, no.

[ScottGem]

First, by not documenting the bio father you have made it harder on yourself. The court will require that identify and try to get the bio father's approval for the adoption. You will have to show that you tried to do so.

Second, depending on local laws (any question on law needs to include your general locale as laws vary by area) you may have to be married before an adoption is allowed.

So what you need to do is contact a local attorney who can advise you what you need to do.

[dontknownuthin]

What you want to do isn't really legally possible anywhere that I know of, probably because it's a bad idea. If marrying first is something you would have to be "forced into", it would be dumb for this guy to become your child's legal father.

If you marry him one day, then meet with a attorney and find out what would be involved in your jurisdiction. In the meantime, it would be wise for you to consider why you don't want to be married. If you think marriage is "just a piece of paper", so is a birth certificate.