Nevada Adoption Guide

Everything you need to know about adoption in Nevada!

Welcome, Nevadans! This guide was written to provide you with a single place to find information about adoption within Nevada. It will walk you through everything from laws that will impact your adoption to reviews of adoption service providers in Nevada.

We’ve divided this guide into five parts: first, general information about adopting in NV, then sections dedicated to domestic infant adoption (starting in Slide 9), foster adoption (Slide 19),  international adoption (Slide 29), and stepparent adoption (Slide 33). And don’t miss our slide filled with links to helpful adoption resources (Slide 36)

2. Domestic Infant Adoption: Birth Father Rights

In many states a paternity registry allows unmarried fathers to register their information and receive notice of adoption proceedings.

Paternity registry:
While Nevada does not currently have a putative father registry, unmarried fathers at the time of the child’s birth may have their name entered into the original birth certificate for the child if both the mother and father sign a voluntary acknowledgement of paternity.

The hospital at the time of the child’s birth is required to give the father and mother notice, orally and in writing, of the rights, responsibilities, and consequences of signing the voluntary acknowledgement of paternity.

Once signed, a voluntary acknowledgement of paternity establishes the parent child relationship for the father and gives him the right to take part in adoption proceedings.

Revocation of claim to paternity:
Unmarried fathers have 60 days from the signing of a voluntary acknowledgement of paternity or the date of the first court hearing, whichever comes first, to revoke their claim to paternity.

After this time period the acknowledgement may not be overruled unless proved in court that the acknowledgement came by fraud or duress.