Stepparent Adoption With No Legal Father Established

**nicky12** · 03-11-2012, 10:54 PM

My question involves adoption law for the State of: IL

I have a three month old daughter, her biological father left me when I was three months pregnant. We were unwed, and I live in IL and he lives in NC. He did not try and contact me, was "not ready to be a father", never tried to come for a Dr's appt or cared to even ask about my pregnancy. His family (who also live in IL) made it very clear that they were not accepting of my pregnancy, and they did not believe she was his. A month after the bio dad and I split, my high school sweetheart and I got together and he has been in my life everyday since. He was present at my daughters birth, we are engaged, live together and he provides financial support for my daughter and considers her his own. The bio dad randomly came home after the birth of my daughter on a 12 day paternity leave, he had seen about her birth on a social networking site. I allowed him to see her thinking he may come around. He saw her for a total or 2 hours during his 12 days home and didn't bother to see her anymore. I didnt hear a word from him until my daughter was 4 weeks old, he then began texting me stating that he would make sure my daughter knew that "____ was not her father", etc.. so I blocked him from texting me because I was tired of being harassed. Note that he was not asking about the baby, only causing controversy. This man is still able to call me, he knows my email address, there is no reason why he,nor his family, have contacted me to ask about her in over 6 weeks.

My question is, if things remain the same, will my fiance be able to adopt her once we are married? Will I need bio dads consent since he has signed no legal documents, did not register with the Illinois Putative Father Registry, and has not been financially supportive?

**Dogmatique** · 03-11-2012, 11:08 PM

You have a fiance 3 months after giving birth to someone else's child? After hooking up a month after you split up with your ex?

Seriously Mom - slow down. You're perhaps making what the court might consider poor decisions.

And while you've had no obligation to allow contact, blocking Dad's attempts to contact you can absolutely look bad on you in court and could be - even though Dad hasn't registered with the PFR - reason enough for any future adoption to be overturned.

Tread VERY carefully here. And seriously - don't compound the situation by referring to your current partner as "Dad". Use his first name.