As most of you know I have just adopted a 7 year old boy. And I am the legal guardian of his 10 year old sister. This is the situation on her. Since I am her legal guardian and she was only in dhs custody overnight (dhs released her to me the next day) her parental rights were not terminated by dhs. (which really upset me because I kept asking the courts every time I went to court if parental rights were being terminated on her as well and every time the courts said yes)3 weeks before I adopted the boy the courts told me her parental rights were not terminated because she was not in dhs custody. Now I have to hire an attorney find the bio mother and take both parents to court to adopt her. Here is the problem. First the attorney stated that bio mother could sue for custody and or visititation. most likely get visits. But also stated that I could sue for 5 years back child support and abandonment. The girl has not spoken a word about bio mom in 3 years now. Has not seen bio dad in 2 years. The girl was very upset about her brother being adopted and not her. I talked to the school and they stated that she was having a really hard time over the adoption. The school agreed to start calling her by my last name except on the computer and report cards and everyone else is calling her by my last name. She knows she is not adopted yet. I told her we have to still go before the judge. This has seemed to satify her for now. I do not have a whole lot of money comming in and no resources to get any. So far the cheapest attorney I have found said it would cost at least $1,000 to $2,500 to get her adopted depending on how long it takes to find the bio mom. The question is should I let sleeping dogs lie? Should I open up that can of worms? Where does the money come from? Or should I continue with the adoption? What if bio mom get visitation and or custody? Bio dad so far has said that he will sign adoption papers. I just don't know what to do. Sorry this is so long.