Minnesota Fathers' Adoption Registry (MFAR)

The Minnesota Fathers’ Adoption Registry (MFAR) was created for men who believe they have fathered a child, to alert them to adoptions involving their presumed children. Men register information about themselves, their presumed child, and the child's mother. MFAR is for men who:  

• Were not married to the mother of their presumed child when the child was born
• Have not established parentage through the courts or by signing a Recognition of Parentage form
• Want to know if their presumed child is in an adoption process

Registration with MFAR is free and voluntary, but to guarantee your registration is valid, you must register either before the child is born or within 30 days after the birth. MDH will send a confirmation of your registration. If you register 31 or more days after the child’s birth, the court will determine if your registration is valid.  

Minnesota law requires a search of MFAR before an adoption is final, to see if a potential father (also known as a putative father) has registered. Any registered, putative father is notified of the adoption and can decide if he wants to pursue his rights as a father.  

If you do not register or your registration is late and deemed invalid, you may not be notified of or have input in adoptions involving the child. In addition, the court may rule that you have given up your rights in the adoption process or that you abandoned the child.

Registering with MFAR does NOT:

• Establish you as the child’s legal father
• Add your name to the child’s birth record
• Force you to pay child support. However, child support agencies may search MFAR to find possible fathers.

If you provide the mother’s correct address to MFAR, we will notify her about your registration.  

To learn more about becoming a legal father, visit the Minnesota Department of Human Services Establishing Parentage page and Child Support Services page. 

Update your registration

Please submit only one registration per child. MFAR will send you confirmation of your registration. You can use the confirmation form or the MFAR Change of Address form (PDF) to update or change your registration information at any time. If your address is not current in MFAR, you may not be notified of adoption proceedings concerning your presumed child.

NOTE: By law, a submission to MFAR cannot be removed, even if the registration was made in error.

Respond to an adoption notification

If his presumed child is involved in an adoption proceeding, a putative father registered with MFAR will be notified by a party to the adoption. He’ll receive forms that allow him to affirm either his intent to claim parental rights, his denial of paternity, or his consent to the adoption.

The putative father has 30 days from receiving the notice to file an intent to claim parental rights form in the county where the adoption petition will be filed. If the putative father fails to file in time, or files a denial of paternity form or consent to adoption form, he will have given up his rights in the adoption process.

A putative father registered in MFAR who can’t afford an attorney but has filed an intent to claim parental rights may qualify for legal help. Contact the court administrator’s office in the county where your presumed child lives. You may be eligible for publicly funded legal counsel. 

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