What, if anything, can we do to have legal rights to her? Let me elaborate what little information we do have.
This is a child that was conceived at the ages of 15 and 17 during a one night stand. Another person was tested and when it came back negative, the mother decided that she did not want to persue any other options by testing anyone else because she really didn't want to disappoint her parents. By the time the mother was 18 she married and had her husband adopt the child. No contact was ever made from the mother to my husband to tell him there was even a possibility that he had a child. My husband has lived at the same address for 32 years. The mother claims she never told my husband after she found out we got married almost 13 years ago because of me, which actually puts the child at age 4 or 5, so this of course is not true. She actually checked me out at the local store and did not even mention anything. The mother was young and scared and didn't do things in the best interest of anyone but herself. The mother did contact us 2 months ago and my husband took responsibility for his child. The child wants to be in my husbands life and wants to get to know him. She has even mentioned staying with us for an extended amount of time. From what you told me, this does not even sound like it is a possibility. Do we need to wait until she is 18? I do not understand why my husband would have to adopt his own biological daughter when he didn't even know he had one to start with. Why doesn't he have any rights? Will he ever be able to get to have rights or will her mother be in complete control which means that we have to step on broken glass every time we talk to her just so father and daughter have a chance to really get to know each other? Should we hire a lawyer or wait it out being that the courts are slow and we only have 2 years until she is legally an adult? The worst part is that we know that we have a lot to offer this child who has dyslexia, homeschooled by a parent that only gives her books and papers to do while she is at work, doesn't really teach her, and is on a fourth grade math level. I feel like we could really help her but our hands are tied. Mom comes out with different stories every time we try to get information, so we will never know the truth.