What happens if the absent parent refuses to cooperate?
There are some stepparent adoption cases where the absent parent refuses to cooperate for any number of reasons or the absent parent has vanished and cannot be found. Sometimes the absent parent has not seen or supported the child for years or the absent parent refuses to consent notwithstanding the fact that the best interests of the child would be served by the absent parent cooperating in the adoption plan. When that happens, we will arrange to terminate the absent parent’s rights as required by law. Most often we have found that by dealing diplomatically and courteously with the absent parent we are able to obtain consents without appreciable expense or difficulty in the process.
