Can I adopt my stepchild if I'm currently pregnant in Washington?

Yes, you can move forward with a stepparent adoption in Washington while you are pregnant. Pregnancy is not one of the requirements in Washington's stepparent adoption process, so the steps are the same whether or not you are expecting. If you have a question about how your due date might affect court scheduling, the Superior Court clerk in your county can confirm it.

What Washington does require:

• Court: You file in the Superior Court. Washington has 39 counties, and venue is set under RCW 26.33.030.
• Residency: There is no minimum residency period.
• Marriage: Washington does not set a minimum length of marriage.
• Background check: Criminal background checks are required for adoptive parents.
• Home study: It is not automatically waived (RCW 26.33.220). Courts can waive it for stepparent adoptions in some situations, so ask the clerk how your county handles it.

Consent and the other parent:

• A child who is 14 or older must consent (RCW § 26.33.160).
• If the other legal parent consents, that is the simplest path.
• If the other parent has not been involved, abandonment may apply under RCW § 26.33.120. Washington sets no fixed number of months. The court looks at the parent's overall conduct, so what applies to you depends on your facts.
• If the other parent's rights or whereabouts are unclear, or the case may be contested, talk to an attorney about that specific issue.

Timing around your due date:

• Stepparent adoptions in Washington typically take 3-6 months, so starting early gives you the most room to plan.
• Hearing dates are set by the court, so the clerk in your county is the best source for scheduling and attendance. Tell the clerk about your due date if you want to plan around it.

Cost:

• Court filing fees typically run $200-$500, and the total cost is typically under $1,000.
• Hiring an attorney commonly runs $3,000-$5,000+.

How we help: StepParent Adoption 360 is a document preparation service, not a law firm. You answer questions online, and we prepare the complete court document package for your county. You then file it yourself without an attorney. The price is $349 for the first child and $99 for each additional child. Your court-ready documents arrive within 24-48 hours after you finish the questions, and we back them with a 100% court acceptance guarantee. We have helped 1104 Washington families, and more than 34,000 families nationally since 2001.