Looking for someone who has had similar experience

(posted this in the general area, but just realized there is an Indiana section). Hello all, I'm new to this site (just signed up five minutes ago). Here is my story...I'm 25 years old, currently living in Indiana (have been here for 2 years for school). My fiancee and I have been discussing the possibility of me adopting her daughter in the very near future. It seems easy enough however there is one thing that makes the situation a little different. "His" name is not on the birth certificate, and as far as I can tell he would be considered to have abandoned my fiancee's daughter under Indiana law. But, Indiana also has the Putative Father's registry, so I'm not sure how that would come into play given the fact that his name is not on the birth certificate. One other issue would be the fact that not only am I not an Indiana resident , I'm not a US citizen. I have been in the US for 12 years and have my green card, but I'm not yet a US citizen, will this effect my chances? Also, as far as I can tell my fiancee and I don't actually have to be married before I adopt her daughter, however do courts require that unmarried couples be together for a certain amount of time? One other thing regarding "him", it would appear to me that has consent would not be required under Indiana law, would I be correct in this assumption? If his consent if not required, is he still required to be given notice? I know "he" would be given 30 days to respond should he be required to be given notice, however if he is not required to be given notice how long does the process take? I know the courts will respond within, I believe, 10 days to inform you of whether or not your petition has been filed properly. I'm sure there is probably something I have missed and will be posting more questions soon. I would like to thank you in advance for providing me with any assistance, thank you! Also, if you made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read this post.