Fremdkindadoption eines Kindes in Deutschland - Inlandsadoption Begleitung

§ Section 7 Adoption Effect Act (AdWirkG)
§ Section 1741 to 1772 of the German Civil Code (BGB)

Do you want to adopt a child? The adoption agency will advise you and guide you through the next steps. You can find out more about the process here.

If you want to adopt a child, please contact the adoption agency of the youth welfare office responsible for your place of residence or a state-recognized adoption agency.

In Germany, adoptions may only be arranged by certain agencies, the adoption agencies. These are responsible for the adoption of related children, stepchildren and other people's children.

Adoption is a lifelong process. The adoption agency is available to you and the adoptee for advice and support throughout the entire adoption process. Even after the adoption process has been completed, you have a legal right to advice and support.

The adoption agency will check whether you are suitable to adopt a child. To do this, you take part in an applicant seminar, submit documents and have discussions with the specialists at the adoption agency. Home visits also take place. During a suitability check, the focus is on the best interests of the child and safeguarding the rights and needs of adoptive children.

If you are a suitable adoptive parent, you will be recognized as a suitable adoption applicant. Once a positive suitability check has been completed, it is possible to be placed with a child. However, there is no guarantee that a child will be placed in your family.

The decision as to which family will be approached for a child to be placed is made by the specialist at the adoption agency. A placement is made if a positive parent-child relationship can be expected to develop.

As the aim is always to find suitable adoptive parents for a child and not the other way around, applicants for adoption are not entitled to the placement of an adoptive child.

Please seek advice from an adoption agency first. They will tell you which documents are required and when.

• You must have unlimited legal capacity.
• You must be at least 25 years old.
• You must have a secure income and/or sufficient financial security.
• Your professional circumstances must allow sufficient time to raise the child.
• Your state of health should allow you to provide educational and nursing care for the child. A certificate from your family doctor is sufficient. You can obtain an information sheet for submission to the doctor from the adoption agency.
• You must have no criminal record. Existing criminal convictions are checked by the adoption agency on a case-by-case basis with regard to potential risks to the child's welfare and the impact on suitability as an adoption applicant. If it is assumed that there is a potential risk to the child's welfare, you will not be considered for the adoption of a child. An extended certificate of good conduct is required (extract from the Federal Central Criminal Register). You can obtain a certificate for submission to the municipal office from the adoption agency.
• You must be prepared to respect the child's religion or the birth parents' wish for a religious upbringing.

The following applies to couples:

• At the same time, you must not pursue any medical procedures to overcome your own childlessness.
• If you are married, the following also applies:
  • You can only adopt together.
  • One of you must be at least 25 years old. The younger one must be at least 21 years old.

You will pay the fees required for issuing the documents necessary for the suitability check (e.g. police clearance certificate). In addition, there are later fees for the application for adoption with the notary.

You will be supported by the adoption agency throughout the entire application process until the adoption is pronounced. They will advise and support you. An adoption follows these steps:

Counseling
The adoption agency will provide you with comprehensive advice and information. You will receive information on how to carry out an adoption, on the requirements for determining your suitability to adopt a child, on placement procedures, but also on the difficulties and special challenges involved in adoption.

Suitability test
Once you have made sure that adopting a child is the right option for you, you can apply to the adoption agency for a suitability check for the placement of an adoptive child. To do this, you fill out an application form. You also draw up a so-called life report. In this document, you describe the stages of your life to date, your family relationships, your partnership (if you are applying as a married couple or as a single person with a partner) and your desire to adopt.
In order to assess your motivation and willingness, the adoption agency would like to get to know you. To this end, there are seminars, interviews and home visits.
The specialists at the adoption agency will assess your ability to take in another person's adoptive child from various perspectives over a longer period of time. The aim is to work out with you which child you would be suitable to care for. The specialist at the adoption agency will summarize all the findings in a report and attach it to your application documents.
If you are suitable to take in a child, the adoption agency can include you as an applicant in a so-called applicant list/adoption list. There is no right to be included in this list, just as there is no right to the placement of a child.

Placement
If you are selected as an adoptive parent for a child, the placement process begins.
First of all, you will receive all known information about the adoptive child. You will learn about the child's development, state of health, previous life history and, if available, information about the living situation of the biological family. You will be informed whether the child is to be placed on the basis of a confidential birth or anonymous surrender. However, it is also possible for the birth parents to reveal their identity and get to know the adoptive foster parents of their child. The potential applicants and the child can get to know each other in a protected and child-friendly environment. As a rule, there are several meetings with the child to be adopted and reflection meetings with the specialists at the adoption agency. During this phase, you as potential adoptive parents can decide for or against taking in the child.

Adoption care period
The adopted child now lives with you. A good relationship should develop during this period. The length of the fostering period, during which a loving parent-child relationship can develop, will depend on the child's age and previous experiences.
Normally, the youth welfare office is the child's guardian during this time, which means that you can make decisions for the child in all matters of daily life. However, decisions that go beyond this must be agreed in advance with the youth welfare office.

Decision
During the adoption care period, you can submit an application for adoption. You can only submit the application with the help of a notary. The family court will examine the application and obtain a suitability report and other documents relevant to the adoption from your responsible adoption agency. The court will also look at the necessary declarations of consent, e.g. from the biological parents and the guardian.
If the adoption is in the best interests of the child and it is to be expected that a parent-child relationship will develop between you and the child, the family court will issue a legally valid adoption order.
Once the adoption proceedings before the family court have been completed, the adoption is automatically recorded in the register of births. The adoption decision gives the child the legal status of a biological child. The legal relationship with the biological family is terminated in the case of an external adoption.

The duration of an adoption procedure can vary. The duration of the suitability check depends on the individual case and can be determined by the time resources of the adoption agency.

No time limits need to be observed for domestic adoptions.

You have no legal claim to the placement of a child.

• Third-party adoption of a child in Germany, domestic adoption, accompaniment
• Contact the adoption agency if you wish to adopt a child
• Selection process via documents and interviews
• Only the adoption agency decides on suitability.
• Children whose parents have decided to relinquish and adopt are placed by the adoption agency
• The health, findings from the police clearance certificate and economic situation of the applicant must not conflict with the best interests of a child
• Adoption takes place in certain phases: Counseling, suitability test, placement process, adoption care period, adoption decision
• Responsible body: local adoption agency or independent adoption agency

Please contact the adoption agency of the youth welfare office in your place of residence or a state-recognized adoption agency.

Adoption agencies of the youth welfare offices

At the request of the adoption applicant, the adoption agency carries out an assessment of general suitability for the adoption of a child with habitual residence in Germany. Both the adoption agencies of the youth welfare offices and the independent agencies are entitled to carry out a suitability test.