Ready to adopt

My husband and I have had this child for 6years. He only knows of us as his parents. His mother gave him to us when we picked her up from the hospital after giving birth to him. She use to call and asked how he's doing when he was about 6 months-18months. She asked that we never tell him about her. She had this paper notarized saying that we had rights to take him to the hospital, doctors any kind of medical situations that arouse. In the letter does not say that she has given up her parental rights, but she has no contact nor concern for him. We never could find her when he was smaller to sign the papers for adoption. So now he has started school and wants to know why his name is different than ours. We have been looking for his mother all this year, so we could try and get him adopted by this time next year. We can't find her. How can I adopt him without his mother consent? Please advise.

You definitely need to talk to an attorney. Most offer free consultations.

You also NEED to get this adoption handled. If mom came back after a period of time, she might be able to get custody of this child back.

Under the circumstances you described, it would be a tough road for her to do that, but her parental rights are superior to yours unless you do an adoption. At the very least, you would face an expensive, heart-wrenching legal battle. At most, you could lose custody of the child.

In Indiana, you can get service on an individual by publication of a legal notice in a newspaper. Tennessee probably has similar provisions.

You really do need to get this situation taken care of. Best of luck to you.