Adopting a Child in New Mexico

Any child may be adopted. Residents approved by the court as suitable adoptive parents may adopt; a married person may adopt without the spouse if the spouse is the child's parent, they are legally separated, or the court excuses it. Nonresidents may adopt only in limited cases. The child must be placed by the Children, Youth and Families Department, an agency, another state's public authority, or under a court placement order; in an independent adoption, a pre-placement study approving the petitioner, prepared or updated within one year before placement, must be filed before the placement order. Consent or relinquishment is required from the child if 14 or older, the mother, the presumed or acknowledged father, and any agency with custody, unless an exception applies (such as termination of rights or failure to register with the putative father registry within 10 days of birth).

A stepparent adoption is exempt from the independent-adoption placement-order and pre-placement study requirements if, before the petition is filed, the child has lived with the stepparent for at least one year since the stepparent married the custodial parent and the family has received counseling. A married stepparent may adopt without the spouse joining because the spouse is the child's parent. The other parent's consent is required unless an exception applies, such as termination of parental rights.