Adoption — step parent adoption — dispensing with father's consent for adoption — alienation — Adoption Act 1955 — M v M FC Wellington FAM-2006-085-628, 6 December 2007 — P v C [2001] NZFLR 193 — Director-General of Social Welfare v L [1989] 2 NZLR 314: [1989] 5 FRNZ 164; [990] NZFLR 125 — L v B (1982) 1 NZFLR 232 — Re B (a minor) (adoption by parent) [1975] 2 WLR 569 — E v M NZSC Wellington M361/79, 13 September 1979 — In the Adoption of W [1981] 1 NZFLR 33 — Re J (adoption) [1999] 19 FRNZ 77 — Re Sinclair [2016] NZFC 7430. The applicants were the biological mother and step father of an 18-year old woman (the daughter). They sought to adopt the daughter without the consent of the biological father. This was on the grounds that the father had failed his normal duty as a parent. The father opposed the adoption and claimed that the mother had undermined his relationship with their daughter. The applicants claimed that the father's contact with the daughter was irregular and she did not want contact with him. This was denied by the father, and he submitted that the mother did not support him having a relationship with his daughter. The father made proposals for regular contact and requested consultation for guardianship issues. The Court found that the father faced difficulties in trying to maintain a relationship with his daughter. It was found that the mother undermined the parent/child relationship when she tried to relocate with the daughter without consulting the father first. The Court concluded that the father had not failed his duty as a parent, and the criteria for adoption without consent was not met. The application was dismissed. Judgment Date: 25 October 2023. * * * Note: names have been changed to comply with legal requirements. * * *