N.M. Stat. § 32A-5-3 (2026)

As used in the Adoption Act:

    A. "accrediting entity" means an entity that has entered into an agreement with the
United States secretary of state pursuant to the federal Intercountry Adoption Act of
2000 and regulations adopted by the United States secretary of state pursuant to that
act, to accredit agencies and approve persons who provide adoption services related to
convention adoptions;

   B. "adoptee" means a person who is the subject of an adoption petition;

   C. "adoption service" means:

       (1)    identifying a child for adoption and arranging the adoption of the child;
     (2)    arranging or assisting in the process of connecting or matching parents
who may place a child for adoption with prospective adoptive parents;

        (3)    providing counseling, advice or guidance related to a potential adoption;

      (4)    receiving or disbursing funds or anything of value on behalf of a
prospective adoptive parent or to a parent who may place or has placed a child for
adoption;

       (5)     securing termination of parental rights to a child or consent to adoption of
the child;

        (6)    performing a background study on a child and reporting on the study;

       (7)    performing a home study on a prospective adoptive parent and reporting
on the study;

      (8)    making determinations regarding the best interests of a child and the
appropriateness of an adoptive placement for the child;

        (9)    performing post-placement monitoring of a child until an adoption is final;
or

       (10) when there is a disruption before an adoption of a child is final, assuming
custody of the child and providing or facilitating the provision of child care or other social
services for the child pending an alternative placement of the child;

    D. "agency" means a person certified, licensed or otherwise specially empowered
by law to place a child in a home in this or any other state for the purpose of adoption;

   E. "agency adoption" means an adoption when the adoptee is in the custody of an
agency prior to placement;

     F. "acknowledged father" means a father who:

       (1)     acknowledges paternity of the adoptee pursuant to the putative father
registry, as provided for in Section 32A-5-20 NMSA 1978;

        (2)    is named, with his consent, as the adoptee's father on the adoptee's birth
certificate;

      (3)     is obligated to support the adoptee under a written voluntary promise or
pursuant to a court order;

      (4)     has openly held out the adoptee as his own child by establishing a
custodial, personal or financial relationship with the adoptee as follows:
           (a) for an adoptee under six months old at the time of placement: 1) has
initiated an action to establish paternity; 2) is living with the adoptee at the time the
adoption petition is filed; 3) has lived with the mother a minimum of ninety days during
the two-hundred-eighty-day period prior to the birth or placement of the adoptee; 4) has
lived with the adoptee within the ninety days immediately preceding the adoptive
placement; 5) has provided reasonable and fair financial support to the mother during
the pregnancy and in connection with the adoptee's birth in accordance with his means
and when not prevented from doing so by the person or authorized agency having
lawful custody of the adoptee or the adoptee's mother; 6) has continuously paid child
support to the mother since the adoptee's birth in an amount at least equal to the
amount provided in Section 40-4-11.1 NMSA 1978, or has brought current any
delinquent child support payments; or 7) any other factor the court deems necessary to
establish a custodial, personal or financial relationship with the adoptee; or

           (b) for an adoptee over six months old at the time of placement: 1) has
initiated an action to establish paternity; 2) has lived with the adoptee within the ninety
days immediately preceding the adoptive placement; 3) has continuously paid child
support to the mother since the adoptee's birth in an amount at least equal to the
amount provided in Section 40-4-11.1 NMSA 1978, or is making reasonable efforts to
bring delinquent child support payments current; 4) has contact with the adoptee on a
monthly basis when physically and financially able and when not prevented by the
person or authorized agency having lawful custody of the adoptee; or 5) has regular
communication with the adoptee, or with the person or agency having the care or
custody of the adoptee, when physically and financially unable to visit the adoptee and
when not prevented from doing so by the person or authorized agency having lawful
custody of the adoptee; or

      (5)    has established a parent-child relationship pursuant to Article 2 of the New
Mexico Uniform Parentage Act [40-11A-201 to 40-11A-204 NMSA 1978];

    G. "alleged father" means a person who alleges or is alleged to be a genetic parent
or possible genetic parent of a child, but whose parentage has not been adjudicated.
"Alleged father" does not include:

       (1)    a presumed parent;

        (2)   a person whose parental rights have been terminated or declared not to
exist; or

       (3)    a donor;

    H. "assisted reproduction" means a method of causing pregnancy other than sexual
intercourse. "Assisted reproduction" includes:

       (1)    intrauterine or vaginal insemination;
      (2)    donation of eggs or sperm;

      (3)    donation of embryos;

      (4)    in-vitro fertilization and transfer of embryos; and

      (5)    intracytoplasmic sperm injection;

   I. "confirmatory adoption" means an action in which a parent or parents of a child
born through assisted reproduction seek to confirm parentage of the child and obtain a
judgment of adoption;

   J. "consent" means a document:

      (1)     signed by a biological parent whereby the parent grants consent to the
adoption of the parent's child by another;

       (2)      whereby the department or an agency grants its consent to the adoption of
a child in its custody; or

      (3)    signed by the adoptee if the child is fourteen years of age or older;

   K. "convention adoption" means:

       (1)    an adoption by a United States resident of a child who is a resident of a
foreign country that is a party to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and
Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption; or

      (2)    an adoption by a resident of a foreign country that is a party to the Hague
Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry
Adoption of a child who is a resident of the United States;

   L. "counselor" means a person certified by the department to conduct adoption
counseling in independent adoptions;

   M. "department adoption" means an adoption when the child is in the custody of the
department;

    N. "donor" means a person who contributes a gamete or gametes or an embryo or
embryos to another person for assisted reproduction or gestation, whether or not there
is consideration for the contribution. "Donor" does not include a person who:

      (1)    provides gametes for use in assisted reproduction with that person's
spouse;
      (2)    gives birth to a child by means of assisted reproduction, unless declared
otherwise by a court pursuant to a surrogacy agreement;

     (3)   is a parent of a child of assisted reproduction pursuant to Article 7 of the
New Mexico Uniform Parentage Act [40-11A-701 to 40-11A-707 NMSA 1978]; or

      (4)    is an intended parent pursuant to a surrogacy agreement;

     O. "foreign born child" means any child not born in the United States who is not a
citizen of the United States;

    P. "former parent" means a parent whose parental rights have been terminated or
relinquished;

    Q. "full disclosure" means mandatory and continuous disclosure by the investigator,
agency, department or petitioner throughout the adoption proceeding and after
finalization of the adoption of all known, nonidentifying information regarding the
adoptee, including:

      (1)    health history;

      (2)    psychological history;

      (3)    mental history;

      (4)    hospital history;

      (5)    medication history;

      (6)    genetic history;

      (7)    physical descriptions;

      (8)    social history;

      (9)    placement history; and

      (10)   education;

    R. "independent adoption" means an adoption when the child is not in the custody
of the department or an agency;

   S. "investigator" means an individual certified by the department to conduct pre-
placement studies and post-placement reports;
   T. "office" means a place for the regular transaction of business or performance of
particular services;

   U. "parent" means a person who has established a parent-child relationship;

   V. "parent-child relationship" means a relationship between a person and a child
that is established by:

       (1)    the person having given birth to the child;

       (2)    an adjudication of the person's maternity or paternity;

       (3)    adoption of the child by the person;

       (4)    a presumption of parentage pursuant to Section 40-11A-204 NMSA 1978;

        (5)    an effective acknowledgment of parentage by the person pursuant to
Article 3 of the New Mexico Uniform Parentage Act [40-11A-301 to 40-11A-314 NMSA
1978], unless the acknowledgment has been rescinded or successfully challenged; or

       (6)   the person's having consented to assisted reproduction pursuant to Article
7 of the New Mexico Uniform Parentage Act that resulted in the birth of the child;

   W. "parental rights" means all rights of a parent with reference to a child, including
parental right to control, to withhold consent to an adoption or to receive notice of a
hearing on a petition for adoption;

   X. "placement" means the selection of a family for an adoptee or matching of a
family with an adoptee and physical transfer of the adoptee to the family in all adoption
proceedings, except in adoptions filed pursuant to Paragraphs (1) and (2) of Subsection
C of Section 32A-5-12 NMSA 1978, in which case placement occurs when the parents
consent to the adoption, parental rights are terminated or parental consent is implied;

   Y. "post-placement report" means a written evaluation of the adoptive family and the
adoptee after the adoptee is placed for adoption;

   Z. "pre-placement study" means a written evaluation of the adoptive family, the
adoptee's biological family and the adoptee;

   AA. "presumed father" means:

       (1)    the husband of the biological mother at the time the adoptee was born;

      (2)     an individual who was married to the mother and either the adoptee was
born during the term of the marriage or the adoptee was born within three hundred days
after the marriage was terminated by death, annulment, declaration of invalidity or
divorce; or

      (3)    before the adoptee's birth, an individual who attempted to marry the
adoptee's biological mother by a marriage solemnized in apparent compliance with law,
although the attempted marriage is or could be declared invalid and if the attempted
marriage:

         (a) could be declared invalid only by a court, the adoptee was born during the
attempted marriage or within three hundred days after its termination by death,
annulment, declaration of invalidity or divorce; or

          (b) is invalid without a court order, the adoptee was born within three hundred
days after the termination of cohabitation;

    BB. "record" means any petition, affidavit, consent or relinquishment form, transcript
or notes of testimony, deposition, power of attorney, report, decree, order, judgment,
correspondence, document, photograph, invoice, receipt, certificate or other printed,
written, videotaped or tape-recorded material pertaining to an adoption proceeding;

    CC. "relinquishment" means the document by which a parent relinquishes parental
rights to the department or an agency to enable placement of the parent's child for
adoption;

    DD. "resident" means a person who, prior to filing an adoption petition, has lived in
the state for at least six months immediately preceding filing of the petition for adoption
or a person who has become domiciled in the state by establishing legal residence with
the intention of maintaining the residency indefinitely; and

    EE. "stepparent adoption" means an adoption of the adoptee by the adoptee's
stepparent when the adoptee has lived with the stepparent for at least one year
following the marriage of the stepparent to the custodial parent.

History: 1978 Comp., § 32A-5-3, enacted by Laws 1993, ch. 77, § 130; 1995, ch. 206,
§ 26; 2001, ch. 162, § 1; 2003, ch. 294, § 2; 2003, ch. 321, § 2; 2005, ch. 189, § 58;
2012, ch. 28, § 1; 2025, ch. 15, § 1.

                                     ANNOTATIONS

Cross references. — For the federal Intercountry Adoption Act, see 42 U.S.C. § 14901
et seq.

The 2025 amendment, effective June 20, 2025, revised the terms "acknowledged
father" and "alleged father", and defined the terms "assisted reproduction", confirmatory
adoption", "donor", "parent", and "parent-child relationship" as used in the Adoption Act;
in Subsection F, added Paragraph F(5); in Subsection G, after "'alleged father' means"
deleted "an individual whom the biological mother has identified as the biological father,
but the individual has not acknowledged paternity or registered with the putative father
registry as provided for in Section 32A-5-20 NMSA 1978" and added "a person who
alleges or is alleged to be a genetic parent or possible genetic parent of a child, but
whose parentage has not been adjudicated. 'Alleged father' does not include:", and
added Paragraphs G(1) through G(3); added new Subsections H and I and
redesignated former Subsections H through K as Subsections J through M,
respectively; added a new Subsection N and redesignated former Subsections L
through Q as Subsections O through T, respectively; and added new Subsections U
and V and redesignated former Subsections R through Z as Subsections W through EE,
respectively.

Applicability. — Laws 2025, ch. 15, § 8 provided that Laws 2025, ch. 15 apply to
actions commenced on or after June 20, 2025.

The 2012 amendment, effective March 3, 2012, expanded the definition of "adoption
service" and in Subsection C, added Paragraphs (2), (3) and (4).

The 2005 amendment, effective June 17, 2005, defined "consent" in Subsection H(3)
to include a document signed by the adoptee if the child is fourteen years of age or
older and added the definition of "foreign born child" in Subsection L to mean a child not
born in the United States who is a citizen of the United States.

The 2003 amendment, effective July 1, 2003, inserted a new Subsection A;
redesignated former Subsection A as Subsection B; inserted a new Subsection C;
redesignated the subsequent subsections accordingly; added a new Subsection I; and
redesignated the subsequent subsections accordingly. Laws 2003, ch. 294, § 2 and
Laws 2003, ch. 321, § 2, enacted identical amendments to this section.The section was
set out as amended by Laws 2003, ch. 321, § 2. See 12-1-8 NMSA 1978.

The 2001 amendment, effective June 15, 2001, in Subsection D, deleted former
Paragraph (5) and inserted and augmented those provisions in Paragraph (4); deleted
former Subsection S, defining "putative father", and renumbered the remaining
subsections accordingly.

The 1995 amendment, effective July 1, 1995, added Subsections C, G, H, and W, and
redesignated the remaining subsections accordingly; substituted "32A-5-2" for "32-5-20"
in Subsections D, E, and S; in Subsection J, inserted "or petitioner" following
"department", inserted "and after finalization of the adoption" following "proceeding",
and inserted "history" in Paragraph (9); in Subsection O, substituted "32A-5-12" for "32-
5-12", and made minor stylistic changes throughout the section.

Acknowledged father. — Where a biological father, who knew that the mother of his
child was pregnant, did not register his paternity within ten days of the child’s birth or file
a paternity action before an adoption petition was filed, the father was not an
acknowledged father and his consent was not a prerequisite to the adoption of his child.
Helen G. v. Mark J.H., 2008-NMSC-002, 143 N.M. 246, 175 P.3d 914.

Time to initiate an action to establish paternity. — The legislature did not place time
limitations on the initiation of a paternity action and a biological father's status as an
acknowledged father does not turn on whether he initiated a paternity action prior to the
time of the child's placement or prior to the filing of the adoption petition. Helen G. v.
Mark J. H., 2006-NMCA-136, 140 N.M. 618, 145 P.3d 98, rev'd, 2008-NMSC-002, 143
N.M. 246, 175 P.3d 914.

Time to initiate an action to establish paternity. — The legislature did not place time
limitations on the initiation of a paternity action and a biological father’s status as an
acknowledged father does not turn on whether he initiated a paternity action prior to the
time of the child’s placement or prior to the filing of the adoption petition. Helen G. v.
Mark J. H., 2006-NMCA-136, 140 N.M. 618, 145 P.3d 98, cert. granted, 2006-
NMCERT-010, 140 N.M. 674, 146 P.3d 809.

Full disclosure means mandatory and continuous disclosure, including health,
psychological, mental, medication, education, and social histories. Young v. Van Duyne,
2004-NMCA-074, 135 N.M. 695, 92 P.3d 1269.