1. Legal, Non-custodial birth parent is no where to be found. If their whereabouts are truly unknown, notice may be given by publication and if he/she fails to respond their rights may be terminated by default.
2. Legal, Non-custodial birth parent is willing to consent to the adoption. An appointment is made to have their consents taken in court.
3. Legal, Non-custodial birth parent does not want to consent but will not contest the adoption either. The birth parent can be served with papers and if he/she does not respond to the papers, after 30 days, he/she would be defaulted (their parental rights would be terminated by default) and the adoption finalized. In order to do this we must allege unfitness. We would need to choose a ground for unfitness. One of the most common grounds is the "failure to maintain a reasonable degree of interest" in the child. If the birth parent does not want this language used in the termination then they would have to consent.
4. Legal, Non-custodial birth parent has not visited child and/or paid child support for child for a period of time (through no fault of custodial parent) and they are refusing to consent. In order to terminate we must allege unfitness. We would need to choose a ground for unfitness, one of the most common grounds is "failure to maintain a reasonable degree of interest" in the child. Also, the failure to pay child support and/or abandonment may also be alleged. Here the odds of prevailing will depend on your specific situation and facts. You may be able to prevail but, if the birth parent contests, you would have to have a hearing on the matter. You should consult an adoption attorney regarding your specific situation.
5. Birth mother was not married to the birth father, birth father has not paid child support, is not on birth certificate, and there is no finding of paternity. In these cases we would check the Illinois Putative Father Registry to see if the birth father has registered. If not, we may be able to terminate based on his failure to register

Reminder: Upon terminating a parent's parental rights any obligation for them to pay child support would end.

These are some generic examples of stepparent adoptions. You should seek the advice of a reputable adoption attorney to review your specific situation. There are many cases that might not fit neatly into any one category and/or, based on the facts, may require that additional steps be taken.