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Putative Father Registry

The Putative Father Registry was established by law to protect the parental rights of fathers who assume responsibility for children they may have fathered and to expedite adoptions of children whose biological fathers have not assumed responsibility for their children. Fathers may affirmatively assume responsibility for their child by registering with the Putative Father Registry. The registry does not replace the filing of an Acknowledgement of Paternity form, which legally establishes paternity.

To register with the Putative Father Registry, a “Request for Inclusion in the Putative Father Registry” form must be completed and submitted to the New Mexico Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics. A putative father must sign up with the Putative Father Registry no later than ten days after the birth of a child in order to be notified when an adoption is planned. To facilitate adoptions, a search of the Putative Father Registry is conducted and if no putative father is found to have registered, the adoption process may proceed.

To request a search of the registry, a “Putative Father Registry Inquiry” form must be completed and submitted to the Bureau. The fee for the search is $12 or if the request is "Urgent", the search fee is $35. A request for a search of the registry may only be made by a court of competent jurisdiction; a department authorized by law to take actions affecting a child’s health, safety or welfare; the petitioner’s attorney or the mother of the child.

These forms may be downloaded at this website or you may contact the Bureau at 1-866-534-0051 to request that a form be mailed to you.

Putative father registry inquiry

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