25-6-1. Adoption of illegitimate child by acknowledgment and conduct of father--Legitimation from birth.The father of an illegitimate child by publicly acknowledging it as his own, receiving it as such into his family, with the consent of his wife if he is married and otherwise treating it as if it were a legitimate child, thereby adopts it as such, and such child is thereupon deemed for all purposes legitimate from the time of its birth. The other provisions of law relating to adoption shall not apply in such cases. Source: SDC 1939, §14.0408.
South Dakota Legal Code