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Requirements for adoption
These requirements must meet those interested in adoption
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The best interests of the child are central to adoption
The youth welfare office or a recognized adoption agency is responsible for placing an adopted child. Because the welfare of the child is the first priority for the professionals, the placement is preceded by a thorough examination. The process requires patience and places high demands on the potential adoptive parents. This article will tell you which requirements must be met and which aspects adoption applicants should consider in their deliberations.
Who can adopt a child?
Whoever wants to adopt a child must have unlimited legal capacity. Couples who wish to adopt a child should be married to each other. It goes without saying that the relationship should be harmonious and intact. After all, the adopted child should have a secure and stable home.
Purely legally, single applicants can also adopt a child. A particularly detailed child welfare examination is presupposed. An adoption is promising, for example, if there is already a significant relationship with the child or if there is an underlying kinship relationship.
If the couple is unmarried, only one partner can adopt the child. The other partner can then adopt the child, if necessary, as part of a successive adoption.
Since 2017, same-sex couples have also been allowed to adopt children jointly. The prerequisite is that they are married and they meet all other requirements equally. This was previously only possible for registered partners in the context of a successive adoption.
What adoption applicants should know in advance
A placement process can be lengthy. It requires patience and empathy on the part of professionals and applicants. They should also be aware that increasing waiting time does not automatically increase the prospect of successful placement, since in Germany every child to be placed is faced with a large number of applicants.
What are the requirements for adoption?
During the adoption process, several personal interviews take place, as well as at least one home visit by the responsible specialist. The talks focus on questions about the child's own childhood and family, the couple relationship, how to deal with involuntary childlessness and the motivation for adoption. Personal and common goals for the future, educational ideas, and social and economic circumstances are also put to the test. The following criteria are part of the examination of an adoption suitability:
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Age limits apply to adoption. Single applicants must be at least 25 years old. In couples, one of the partners must be at least 21 years old, the other at least 25. However, there is no maximum age limit. However, the rule is that the age difference between the applicant adoptive parents and the adopted child should correspond to a natural age difference.
Whoever wants to take responsibility for an adopted child should have a stable personality. For adopted children, it is important that their caregivers can offer them a reliable and resilient relationship in the long term. The placement office checks the suitability of applicants on the basis of their previous life biography or personal attitudes, including how they deal with involuntary childlessness or the loss of a child. Skills such as the ability of the potential adoptive parents to cope with difficult situations or the sensitivity to empathize with the needs of the child to be adopted also play a role. Questions of the adoptive parents about the parents of origin as well as the willingness to inform the child about his or her parentage and to deal openly with the past history are also reflected in this context.
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The adoptive parents should be able to care for the child over a long period of time without severe health restrictions. For this reason, medical certificates and / or psychological reports and a health certificate from the health department may be required.
The placement office will conduct several interviews to question applicants' life goals and motivation to adopt a child.
Potential adoptive parents should be able to offer the child an intact and secure home. Therefore, the couple relationship is also scrutinized in the suitability procedure. Educational goals and future aspirations of both parents must coincide. In addition, the relationship should be resilient enough to handle any difficult situations and to cope with crises.
Questions about the personally experienced upbringing experiences as well as the ideas about upbringing styles and methods aim to become clear about one's own childhood. The advisory discussion of the specialists with the applicants is to help to avoid to transfer own experienced educating patterns unreflectively on the adopted child.
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The children already living in the family are also included in the assessment of suitability. It is questioned what influence the future constellation of siblings can have on the family system. Another criterion is whether the caregivers can devote enough time to the adopted child in addition to their existing responsibilities.
The specialist at the placement office checks whether the housing situation is appropriate and whether there is enough space for a child and a separate children's room.
An adopted child needs particularly loving and unrestricted attention, especially during the settling-in period. In order for it to develop a good bond, the adoptive parents should be able to devote sufficient time to it professionally. One parent must be prepared, at least temporarily, to take a career break. Or both partners can organize their careers so flexibly that care can be provided alternately. Incidentally, the entitlements to parental leave and parental allowance also apply to adoptive parents from the first day of the child's admission.
Another requirement for adoption is proof of the financial living situation. The future parents should be able to give the child a secure and stable future. To this end, those willing to adopt must provide the placement agency with proof of income as well as proof of assets and debts. The adoptive parents must not receive any social benefits from the state during the application phase. Based on the professional situation and financial circumstances, the placement office assesses whether the parents can reliably provide for the child's upkeep.
Applicants must submit an extended certificate of good conduct to the placement office. If there are previous convictions or a potential risk to the welfare of children, there is no suitability.
What is the suitability report?
The adoption agency summarizes the results of the suitability of the applicants in a so-called suitability report. This report may be made available to other agencies involved in the adoption. If the specialists determine that there is no suitability, the applicants are informed of the negative result in a personal interview.
Where can we find help and advice?
You can obtain information, information and advice about the possibilities, prospects and requirements of adoption from the adoption agencies in Germany. You can contact these offices:
A good overview for interested parties is provided by the brochure "Adoption". Publishers are the two regional associations LVR and LWL. The brochure is available for you to download free of charge.
The Federal Ministry for Family Affairs provides extensive information materials about the regulations in the adoption system. You can order the following materials on this website or download them free of charge.
