Adoption of children same-sex couples

Research and discussion

The raising of children by same-sex couples, as well as the possibility of allowing such couples to adopt children or obtain the right to use the services of artificial insemination and surrogacy, is the subject of scientific and public discussions. There are various studies that appeal both opponents and supporters of parental rights for LGBT people. Those and others are trying to find errors and inaccuracies in the research of their opponents.

Foster Parent Deficit

Many activists who advocate for the right of same-sex couples to adopt children note that there is a shortage of foster parents for certain categories of children. While foster parents prefer to adopt babies, other older children with disabilities, HIV- infected or children from the category of “difficult” can wander from year to year at different shelters, remaining orphans. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, “About 30% of children in shelters have serious emotional, behavioral, or developmental difficulties.” ^[1] A study by the Williams Institute of the University of California, Los Angeles showed that same-sex couples are much more likely to heterosexuals to adopt older children, people with disabilities, or other children who are having difficulty adopting. ^[2] According to researchers, the ban on the adoption of such children by same-sex couples could bring the United States losses in the amount of from 87 to 130 million dollars annually.

Equal rights with heterosexual couples when adopting children, including the right to jointly adopt a child, have same-sex couples who are married or in another form of registered partnership in the following states:

•   Australia (2002 - 2017) (except the Northern Territory )
•   Andorra (2014)
•   Argentina (2010) ^[3]
•   Austria (2016)
•   Belgium (2006) ^[4]
•   Brazil (2010) ^[5]
•   Great Britain
  •   England (2005) ^[6]
  •   Wales (2005)
  •   Scotland (2005) ^[7]
  •   Northern Ireland (2013) ^[8]
•   Germany (2017)
•   Denmark (2010) ^{[9] [10]}
  •   Greenland (2016)
  •   Faroe Islands (2016)
•   Israel (2008) ^{[11] [12] [13]} Same-sex marriages or same-sex civil partnerships are not registered in Israel, surrogacy is not allowed for same-sex couples, but in 2018 the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the Ministry of the Interior of Israel to register an adopted child as parents two same-sex partners ^[14] .
•   Ireland (2016)
•   Iceland (2006) ^{[15] [16] [17]}
•   Spain (2005) ^[18]
•   Canada (1999–2011) ^{[19] [20] [21]}
•   Colombia (2015) ^[22]
•   Luxembourg (2015)
•   Malta (2014)
•   Netherlands (2001) ^[23]
•   New Zealand (2013) ^{[24] [25]}
•   Norway (2009) ^{[26] [27] [28]}
•   Portugal (2016)
•   USA (1993—2016 in different states)
•   Uruguay (2009) ^{[29] [30] [31]}
•   Finland (2017)
•   France (2013) ^[32]
•   Sweden (2003) ^{[33] [34]}
•   South Africa (2002) ^[35]

In some countries, joint adoption is allowed only at the regional level:

•   Mexico :
  • Capital Federal District (2010) ^[36] ,
  • Coahuila (2014) ^[37]
  • Campeche (2016)
  • Colima (2016)
  • Michoacan (2016)
  • Morelos (2016)

British Crown Lands and Overseas Territories:

•   Isle of Man (2011) ^[38]
•   Jersey (2012) ^[39]
•   Gibraltar (2014) ^[40]
•   Bermuda (2015)
•   Pitcairn Islands (2015)
•   Guernsey (2016)

In a number of states, one of the partners (married or civil partnership) has the right to adopt the native (in some countries and previously adopted) children of their partner:

•   Estonia (2016) - only relatives
•   Italy (2016)
•   Switzerland (2018) - only relatives ^[41]

Europe

The European Convention on the Adoption of Children of 1967 is in force in the European space. In 2008, the 1967 European Convention was revised. In particular, in paragraph 1 (b) of Art. 5 a norm providing for the child’s consent for adoption to be adopted if it is at a sufficiently conscious age (the minimum age at which the child’s consent for adoption is required is fixed by the states parties to the convention under national law, but cannot exceed 14 years) . In addition, Art. 7 of the convention recognizes the right to adoption for heterosexual couples in registered civil partnerships , as well as for single persons regardless of their sexual orientation . The convention also leaves it to the discretion of states to allow adoption by same-sex couples living together and having a stable relationship. ^[42]

Germany

From January 1, 2005, homosexual couples who are members of a registered civil partnership have a limited right to adopt: one of the partners could adopt the child of his partner, but only if there is a blood relationship between the child and the first parent ^[43] . On February 19, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court of the Federal Republic of Germany ruled that the prohibition of one partner to adopt already adopted children of the second partner is contrary to the country's Constitution. The court ordered the federal government to develop relevant legislation by the end of July 2014 ^[44] . This verdict, however, does not apply to cases of simultaneous joint adoption of a child by a same-sex couple ^[44] . Only one of the partners has the right to adopt, and the second can apply for “limited rights to raise a child” ^[45] . After the legalization of same-sex marriage on October 1, 2017, same-sex couples were granted the right to adopt children. The first same-sex couple in Germany who was officially allowed to adopt a child were Michael and Kai Korok from Berlin. The men already in the registered partnership entered into marriage on October 2, 2017 and immediately applied for the adoption of their ward who has been with them since his birth. Already on October 5, their petition was granted by the court ^{[46] [47]} .

The use of surrogate motherhood in Germany is prohibited (see § 1 of the Embryo Protection Act ^[48] ), regardless of who the parents of the child are, whether they are single or different sex ^{[49] [50] [51]} .

France

In February 2006, the Cassation Court of France ruled that both partners in a same-sex union may have parental rights to the partner’s biological child. Such a decision was made in the case of the transfer of the rights to the two daughters of one woman to her partner in a civil union ^[52] . Gay couples received official permission to adopt children in May 2013 with the introduction of same-sex marriage in the country ^[53] .

UK

Joint adoption of children by same-sex couples in a registered civil union was allowed in England and Wales in 2005 with the introduction of the institution of civil partnerships ^[54] . In Scotland, adoption by same-sex couples was allowed later - in 2009 ^[55] , in Northern Ireland - only in 2013 ^[56] .

Same-sex families in England and Wales enjoy the right to adopt children more actively than same-sex families. A study of the law firm Wilsons showed that after the legalization of same-sex marriage in England and Wales, the number of adoptions of same-sex couples increased ^[57] . In England and Wales, every seventh family admitted by the custody service to adoption is same-sex ^[57] . At the same time, the total number of children adopted (adopted) in England and Wales, on the contrary, has decreased, which is associated with an increase in the availability of modern reproductive technologies ^[57] .

Canada

Russia

Sexual orientation is not a restriction on access to assisted reproductive technologies (fertilization by donor sperm, surrogate motherhood , in-vitro fertilization ), but the same-sex family has problems finding a parent of the child, although recently the courts have been more open. ^[60]

Meanwhile, in accordance with paragraph 1.1 of Article 127 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation , persons who are not married to each other cannot jointly adopt the same child. In addition, in accordance with Federal Law N 167-FZ of July 2, 2013 “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation on the Issues of Orphans and Children Left Without Parental Care”, Article 127 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation additions, according to which the adoption of children is prohibited to persons who are “in union, concluded between persons of the same sex, recognized as marriage and registered in accordance with the legislation of the state in which such marriage is allowed”, as well as to persons I and the citizens of these states are not married ^[61] .

• Biology and sexual orientation
• Patrick 1.5 (film)
• Asylum (2007 film)

• Elena Lazzi, Marina Kantorova. Life in pink. Same-sex family about themselves and not only . - SPb .: Lira, 2006. ISBN 5-9684-0295-4
• Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth & K. Lee Lerner. Gender issues and sexuality: essential primary sources . Thomson Gale, 2006. ISBN 1-4144-0325-9
• Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth & K. Lee Lerner. Family in society: essential primary sources . Thomson Gale, 2006. ISBN 1-4144-0330-5

• “Life in Pink” by Elena Lazzi and Marina Kantorova
• Vater, Vater, Mutter, Mutter, Kind, Kind (German) - a comparison of the rights of same-sex parents in European countries.