Unless the petitioner is a step-parent, the department must make its recommendation to the court based upon its own investigation or the investigative reoprt of another agency. At the hearing, the court must determine whether the petitioner is financially and morally qualified to be an adoptive parent and whether an adoption is in the child's best interest. Prior to the issuance of an adoptive order, the necessary consents must be filed, and the petitioner must execute an agreement that he will treat the adopted child as his own. The clerk of courts will then foward the information in the adoption order to the Division of Vital Records, which will issue a new birth certificate for a nominal fee. An adoption establishes a new parent-child relationship.
Special rules apply to the adoption of Native American children.