S.R.
A friend of mine went through this last summer. Her daughter's biological father had never seen her daughter, never been a part of their lives at all. When she married, they went through the process of having her husband adopt her daughter. They did have to track him down to give him the option of signing over his rights or contesting it. He didn't show up to the first court date, so they were granted the adoption and his rights were terminated. However, he was given 30 days to contest it and request a new court date, which he did. In court, since it was proven that he knew about the baby and never made any attempt at being a father toward her (monetarily or otherwise) his rights were terminated for good and the adoption went through. His name was not on the birth certificate, by the way. I would recommend talking to a family lawyer, which is what my friend had to do. They can give you all the information you need. Hope this helps!