Adoption procedure

Couples seeking to adopt receive comprehensive support and professional advice from the very beginning from the specialists at the adoption agencies. The focus is on finding the most suitable family for a child who cannot grow up with their biological parents. You can find out about the steps involved in the application and adoption process in the following article.

If you are interested in adoption, the local youth welfare office or a recognized adoption agency is your first port of call. They will provide you with detailed information on the subject of adoption to help you make a well-considered decision.

You will need the following documents to apply for a domestic adoption:

• Extended certificate of good conduct
• Birth certificate
• Marriage certificate
• Extensive curriculum vitae
• Completed questionnaire and application for adoption
• Proof of citizenship, earnings, assets and debts
  

Steps in the adoption process

In personal interviews and at least one home visit, the specialists at the placement agency will discuss with you why you would like to adopt a child and what you expect from it. You can read about the specific requirements you need to fulfill on this page on Familienportal.NRW. After reviewing the documents and several interviews, the placement office will assess whether you are suitable as an adoptive parent and, if so, for which children. You will then be added to a pool of potential adoptive parents.

Important to know: The adoption agency is tasked with finding suitable parents for a child - and not the other way around. If a child is placed for adoption and the placement agency has selected you as a suitable family, the child usually comes to you for a short period of time for the legally required adoption care. During this time, you will be given the opportunity to build up a parent-child relationship. Your family will continue to receive close support from the youth welfare office as required. Parental custody does not yet lie with the future adoptive parents, but usually with the Youth Welfare Office until the adoption decision is made.

If the adoption care shows that the adoption in your family is in the best interests of the child, the adoption application can be submitted to the notary. According to the recommendations for adoption placement of the Federal Working Group of State Youth Welfare Offices, the adoption application should be submitted at an early stage, i.e. before the adoption care is completed. The notary submits the application to the family court, which makes the final decision on the application. The adoption decision puts the adopted child on an equal footing with a biological child.

If you are interested in an intercountry adoption, contact the Central Adoption Office of the State Youth Welfare Office or a recognized adoption agency that is approved for intercountry adoptions from certain countries of origin. Here you can get detailed advice to help you make a well-considered decision.

If you would like to go down the route of an international adoption, a two-stage process follows in which you have further personal discussions with the specialists at the youth welfare office and the international placement agency to which you have applied. The Youth Welfare Office in Germany will check whether you are generally suitable for adoption.

The international placement agency to which you have applied will check whether you are specifically suitable for the adoption of a child from a particular country of origin. The adoption agency will then forward your application to the responsible agency in the foreign country you have chosen.

You will need the following documents to apply for an international adoption:

• Extended certificate of good conduct
• Birth certificate or your family register
• Marriage certificate, if you are married
• Detailed curriculum vitae
• Completed application for aptitude test for adoption of a child with habitual residence abroad
• Proof of nationality, earnings, assets and debts
• Health certificate or medical certificate
• Your passport or identity card, if this is sufficient for entry into the child's country of origin
  

Steps in the process of an international adoption

Throughout the entire application process, you will be accompanied by your international placement agency and prepared for the adoption. If you receive a proposal for a child, you will find out more details about the child's previous life story, age and state of health, stage of development and special needs.

If you would like to accept the proposal and the international placement agency has agreed to continue the process, you will travel to the country of origin. There you can get to know the child and then initiate the legal adoption procedure in the country of origin. The duration of the legal procedure varies depending on the country of origin.

The placement agency will advise you on how the adoption procedure in the country of origin actually works and support you with the process. Back in Germany, the adoption must be recognized so that it can become legally effective. It is important to know that the respective adoption law differs from the adoption law in Germany depending on the country of origin.

For this reason, you have the option of converting the foreign adoption into an adoption that complies with German law. The foreign adoption only becomes effective once it has been recognized in Germany. You can apply for recognition of the adoption from the child's country of origin.

This is the prerequisite for the issuing of a certificate by the placement office, with which you can apply for the entry papers for your adopted child at the German embassy or diplomatic mission in the child's country of origin in order to enter Germany together.

There is a relatively common exception to the above procedure: Adoptions that have come about in accordance with the Hague Adoption Convention are recognized by law in Germany from the outset, without the need for a recognition procedure. In these cases, the foreign placement office does not issue a certificate.