Step-Parent Adoption ©
What is Step-Parent Adoption
Where a woman has a child outside marriage and goes on to marry a man who is not the father of her child there can often be a strong desire to establish a legal link between her husband and her child. The only way of ensuring that the mother and her husband both have a legal relationship with the child is for both of them to adopt the child. This is called step-parend adoption. This option is not available to cohabiting couples who are not married.
The effect of step-parent adoption is:
- the biological mother becomes the adoptive mother of her own child
- the step-father becomes the adoptive father with all the rights and responsibilities to the child as if the child had been born into the marriage
- the family can all have the same surname
- the biological father has no further rights or responsibilities to the child and will have no possibility of getting rights in the future
The child will have a certificate which is a copy of the entry in the Adopted Children's Register. This will replace the long form birth certificate. The short form birth certificate will not show that the child is adopted.
Reasons for step-parent adoption
For a child, the fact that s/he has been adopted by his/her mother's husband shows the commitment of the adoptive father to the child and his willingness to take on responsibility for her/him. Adoption can also give a child a sense of security in the family unit.
The adoption creates a legal family unit with constitutional protection as if the child had been born into that family unit.
The child will acquire the same rights in the family as all other children of the marriage. Adoption gives parental rights and responsibilities, with the mother, to the adoptive father. This is especially important in the event of the death of the mother.
Other aspects of step-parent adoption
Adoption completely severs all legal links between the child and her/his birth father and extended paternal family. This means that following the adoption the birth father has no legal right to have contact with his child. The adoptive parents may agree that the father can stay in touch but if this agreement breaks down he cannot go to court to look for access.
Adoption changes the identity of the child and obscures her/his birth details. Children need to know the truth about themselves. They need to know who they are, where they came from and where they fit in. Where a child is in a family with a father who is not his/her birth father, it is important that this fact is acknowledged and that opportunities are found to discuss these issues with the child in an open and honest manner. Even if a child has had no contact with the birth father it is good for the child to know about him.
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How to apply for adoption
Apply directly to your local HSE adoption team.
In order to determine if adoption is appropriate the assigned social worker will make a number of visits to the family home. This is to ensure that the child and the step-father are bonding well and that adoption is in the best interest of the child. Children aged seven and over will be consulted before an adoption order is made. The social worker will want to talk to younger children to ensure that they understand what is happening. If, on receipt of a report from the HSE, the AdoptionAuthority is satisfied that adoption is appropriate and that all legal requirements are met the adoption order will be granted.
The birth father
Birth fathers are consulted about the adoption of their children even if they are not joint guardians of their children. If it is not possible or it is inappropriate to consult the father the Adoption Authority, after first obtaining the approval of the High Court, may make the adoption order without consulting the father.
Where the child's birth father is a legal guardian (either through signing a Statutory Declaration, S.I, No 5 of l998, or by a Court Order) his consent to the adoption is required. If the father has applied to the court to become a guardian then the adoption proceedings are put on hold until the outcome of the court hearing for guardianship.
Specialist information on step-parent adoption
For more specialist information on step-parent adoption contact:
Tel: 01 - 2309300
If you would like to talk through your individual situation, don’t hesitate to call us on our confidential LoCall number 1890 252 084.
