does anyone know how you go about this> my son is 9 and has never met his biological father...

Hi

Firstly, does your son's father have parental responsibility? You automatically have it because you are his mum however if you were not married to the child's father even if he was on birth certificate then he doesn't have it and you do not have to ask his permission. The law changed in December 2003 regarding PR and unmarried couples but your son was born before that date so its not relevant. Anyway, I would have thought easiest solution was for you to go to local County Court and ask at the court office about how to go about applying for your partner to have parental responsibility by consent as you will be consenting to this. They will give you forms to fill in, the court fee won't be much and it will simply mean you and your partner going before a Judge - there will be no one else in the court room as its private hearing and Judge may ask questions and then grant order which you will go to court office to pick up after they have typed it up, usually very shortly after hearing. Your partner will then have same rights and responsibilities as you. You will have to show that child's natural father does not have PR though which is easy enough however if he does because, say you were married, thats different, consult a solicitor.

Good luck hope this has been helpful

Give the child care department of your local social services department a call, I think they carry out an assessment for the courts and will give you all the info you need to know. It's basically the courts that decide. I believe they like you to have been in a long term relationship so the adoptive parent is a stable and long term support for the child.

Hope this helps.