A recent Supreme Court case referred to in our blog seemed to open the door to this possibility. Judges in that case appeared to suggest that there was nothing in the Constitution to prevent the Adoption of children from married parents.
However, the Minister has stipulated that any such change would have to be approved by way of referendum on the new Childrens Act.
The circumstances in which adoption of children from married parents would be envisaged might include situations where a mother felt unable to care for her child on her own for instance where the father was incarcerated in prison.
There have been many cases where foster parents have wanted to adopt a child already in their care but have been prevented from doing so by the present law.
Adoption Act 2010 contains provisions for the outsourcing of assessments of propective adoptive parents. This is now being implemented in order to speed up the process of approval. The HSE had been the only approval authority and had been severely criticised in the past for the length of time it took to complete assessments. The number of applications has decreased significantly.
Monday, 30 January 2012 07:30
Children of Married Parents to be Adoptable
The Minister for Children, Frances Fitzgerald, is preparing legislation to allow children from married parents to be adopted.
To date, only children from unmarried mothers could be adopted, unless it could be shown that the parents were unable or unwillng to care for them.
To date, only children from unmarried mothers could be adopted, unless it could be shown that the parents were unable or unwillng to care for them.
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Family Law
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