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Step by Step

Family Building Through Stepparent Adoption

By Kelly Burgess

Stepparent adoption is the most common form of adoption in the United States. This isn't really surprising when you consider the amount of divorce, remarriage and single parenthood in our culture. In a nutshell, stepparent adoption occurs when one biological parent marries – or remarries – and brings their child into the new marriage as a stepchild. If the stepparent wants to become legally responsible for that child, the parental rights of the non-custodial biological parent are terminated and a stepparent adoption is done through the courts.

Attorney David H. Baum, president of the Academy of California Adoption Lawyers, says that people seek stepparent adoptions for a variety of reasons. "In my practice, most of the people seeking to adopt their stepchild do so because they feel such an affinity for the child that it's very important to them to bond the child to them legally," he says. "The other big reason is that the couple may be going to have a biological child and don't want one child to feel as if he or she is any less a part of the family than the other."

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to terminating parental rights, but in Baum's experience, most of them are handled without rancor. It's simply a matter of respectful communication. "In many instances, the legal parent is more than happy to have their rights terminated," he says. "They usually recognize that they haven't been much of a parent in terms of raising the child, and they want what's best for the child. This also eliminates their obligation toward paying child support."

However, that waiver of obligation applies only if child support is not in arrears. Any amount that was owed to the custodial parent prior to the adoption is still owed, according to Tim O'Hanlon, author of Stepparent Adoption: A Resource Book

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