Stepparent applications can be particularly challenging in a pandemic, particularly if some parties are abroad, as Shanika Haynes found 

The pandemic has touched every aspect of our lives, including how prospective parents can adopt. 

Adoption is a varied and broad area of law. Working on these cases during a pandemic with multiple lockdowns has brought an extra layer of complexity.

Stepparent adoption 

Stepparent adoptions are uncommon. They arise when the partner of one of the biological parents wants to adopt the child. The consequence of stepparent adoption is the other biological parent loses their parental responsibility. 

These applications are usually made where an absent biological parent has little or no involvement in the child’s life for some time. The other biological parent is in a new relationshi...

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