Can I adopt my stepchild if I'm in a same-sex marriage in Florida?

Yes, if you are legally married to your stepchild's parent, you can ask a Florida Circuit Court to approve a stepparent adoption, and the steps are built around your marriage and the child's parent, not the gender of your spouse. Florida's adoption statute lets a married person adopt without the spouse joining when the child's parent is that spouse and consents (Fla. Stat. § 63.042(2)). If your situation has any twist specific to same-sex couples, such as how a prior birth certificate or earlier legal papers read, the Circuit Court clerk in your county or a Florida attorney can confirm how it applies to you.

Where you file: Your petition goes to the Circuit Court in your county. Florida has 67 counties, and each clerk's office can tell you about local filing details.

What the process involves:

• Consent of the other parent, or abandonment. Florida sets no fixed number of months for abandonment. It depends on the other parent's overall conduct (Fla. Stat. § 63.089). Consent rules are in Fla. Stat. § 63.062, and the court's ability to waive consent is in Fla. Stat. § 63.064.
• Your stepchild's consent. A child who is 12 or older has a consent step (Fla. Stat. § 63.062).
• Putative Father Registry search. The registry must be searched in each adoption proceeding (Fla. Stat. § 63.054). Our documents include the motion that requests the court-ordered search.
• Background checks. FDLE and FBI background checks are required.
• No home study for stepparents. Florida exempts stepparents from the preliminary home study (Fla. Stat. § 63.092).
• No separate termination case. The other parent's rights end as part of the adoption, which also ends that parent's child support obligation (Fla. Stat. § 63.172).

What it means for you: After the adoption you have full parental rights and responsibilities, including medical and educational decision-making.