Can a stepparent adopt former stepchildren?

A child may be adopted by an adult who is at least 10 years older than the child in California. As for the consent aspect of your question, consent may be needed from the birth father depending on whether his abandonment satisfies the statute requirements in California. My suggestion is to contact a local attorney that can help you further. Good luck

You have an interesting scenario. The answer to your question is, yes you can still adopt the children. Unless your ex wife, the mother of the children gave up her parental rights, you will need her consent and you will also need to obtain the consent of the bio dad or petition the court to terminate bio dad's parental rights (that's assuming bio dad is still alive). Since you are no longer married to the mother of the children, the adoption would not be considered a step-parent adoption. How old are the children? What are the reasons why you want to adopt them? I am just asking because if the children are close to being adults, you may want to wait until they are 18 and then you could do an adult adoption that does not require the consent of the bio parents (if you are remarried, your new spouse would have to consent to the adult adoption).

Yes you can adopt them, but you will need the consent of the biological parents, or a reason to have the court terminate their parental rights, (which is typically very difficult to do).