Same-sex adoption in Europe

Joint adoption

More information Jurisdiction, Entry into force ...

	Jurisdiction	Entry into force	Notes
[1]	Andorra	25 December 2014
[2]	Austria	1 January 2016
[3]	Belgium	30 June 2006
[4]	Croatia	26 May 2022	First instance decision 5 May 2021, 26 May 2022 High Administrative Court rejects Ministry appeal.
[5]	Denmark	1 July 2010	Also in effect in the Faroe Islands (since 1 July 2017)[6] and Greenland (since 1 July 2016)[7]
[8]	Estonia	1 January 2024	Only parties to a cohabitation agreement or marriage may adopt
[9]	Finland	1 March 2017
[10]	France	18 May 2013	Also applies to all French overseas territories
[11]	Germany	1 October 2017
[12]	Greece	16 February 2024
[13]	Iceland	27 June 2006
[14]	Ireland	6 May 2016
[15]	Liechtenstein	1 June 2023
[16]	Luxembourg	1 January 2015
[17]	Malta	17 April 2014
[18][19]	Netherlands	1 April 2001	The law initially applied to the European Netherlands only. In 2012 its scope was expanded to include the Caribbean Netherlands.
[20]	Norway	1 January 2009
[21]	Portugal	1 March 2016
[22][23]	Slovenia	8 July 2022	The Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs stated that the existing law allowed for second-parent adoption beginning in July 2011. In 2022, the Constitutional Court made separate rulings legalising same-sex marriage and joint couple adoption.
[24]	Spain	3 July 2005
[25]	Sweden	1 February 2003
[26][27]	Switzerland	1 July 2022
[28][29]	United Kingdom	7 November 2002	The law initially applied to England and Wales only. In Scotland a separate law came into force on 28 September 2009.[30] In Northern Ireland since 11 December 2013[31] In Isle of Man since 2 April 2011[32] In Jersey since 2 April 2012[33] In Gibraltar since 28 March 2014[34] In Guernsey since 3 April 2017[35] Non-European Territories: In both Bermuda and the Pitcairn Islands since 2015.[36][37][38] In the Falkland Islands, Saint Helena, Ascension Island, and Tristan da Cunha since 2017.[39] The Cayman Islands since 2020. Not available in other overseas territories

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Step-child adoption

More information Jurisdiction, Entry into force ...

	Jurisdiction	Entry into force	Notes
	Czechia	1 January 2025
	Italy	case law since 2016	Can be granted by court order.[40]
	Lithuania	case law since 2024	Can be granted by court order.[41]
	San Marino	11 February 2019	Parties in a civil union may adopt stepchildren only

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V.M.A. vs Sofia municipality, Pancharevo district, Bulgaria

On 15 April 2021, the European Court of Justice found that a member state is required to grant citizenship to the child of a same-sex couple regardless of the legality of same-sex marriages in that state. A married lesbian couple was living in Spain when they had their first child in December 2019. One woman had Bulgarian citizenship, and the other had British. The Spanish birth certificate designated one mother as “Mother A” and the other as “Mother.” When the Bulgarian woman applied for citizenship for her daughter in Bulgaria, she was denied because Bulgaria does not recognize same-sex unions and registrations. Article 46 of the Bulgarian Constitution reads, “Marriage is a voluntary union between a man and a woman,” hence not allowing for same-sex relationships.^[63] However, it was unclear whether their status as a same-sex couple should interfere with the citizenship of their child. The European Court of Justice found that despite Bulgaria's constitutional objection to homosexual marriages, they could not deny the child their Bulgarian nationality, regardless of whether the child was the legal or biological child of the applicant. Therefore, the child was issued a Bulgarian birth certificate and granted citizenship to Bulgaria. The couple was protected by Article 21 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which ensures members’ rights to move freely between countries.^[63] The Bulgarian woman's new residence in Spain did not destroy her child's right to Bulgarian citizenship.^[63]

Gas and Dubois vs France

Source:^[64]

Two French women who had been living together since 1989 joined a civil partnership agreement in 2002. In 2000, one of the women traveled to Belgium for an artificial insemination treatment. Upon birth, only the biological mother was granted parental custody of the child. The other mother applied for a simple adoption in order to obtain joint parental custody and was denied. Article 365 of the French Civil Code clarifies that a simple adoption is available to married couples specifically, but Article 144 prohibited same-sex marriage.^[65] Therefore, they could not achieve the legal status required for simple adoption. The women appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, claiming that they were discriminated against based on sexual orientation, claiming that their right to a private family life (Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights) and their right to equity under the law (Article 14) had been violated.^[64] The court held in a 6-1 decision that the women had experienced no legal violation of Articles 8 and 14, so no simple adoption for joint custody would be allowed.^[66]