Adoption

EU law does not govern the requirements and procedures to carry out a domestic or an international adoption in an EU country. However, adopting a child is possible in all EU countries, under their respective national laws. Each EU country applies its own requirements and procedures to adoption, which can be domestic, international (adopting a child from another EU country or from a non-EU country), or a second-parent adoption. In a second-parent adoption (also called step-parent adoption), the step-parent adopts their spouse's or partner's child (with whom they have no biological links) and, consequently, the child will have two legal parents.

All EU countries share certain principles enshrined in international conventions on adoption, such as:

• the child's biological parents, if living, must freely agree to the adoption
• the adoption must be decided in the best interests of the child
• the adoption must be granted by a court or administrative authority.

In all EU countries, the adopted child will have the same rights as a biological child, such as the right to take the surname of the adoptive parents, and inheritance rights. Adoptive parents will have the same rights and obligations towards their adopted child as they would towards a biological child.

To find more information on adoption, check the website of the relevant EU country below.