Same-sex adoption

It's legal for same-sex couples to adopt children in 53 countries, but 1 require marriage first.

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  • Legal
  • Married couples only
  • Single only
  • Step-child adoption only
  • Illegal
  • Unknown, N/A, or ambiguous

Recent Changes

  • Sep 26 2022Became Legal in Cuba
  • Jul 8 2022Became Legal in Slovenia
  • May 26 2022Became Legal in Croatia
  • Feb 22 2022Became Legal in Nayarit
  • Dec 9 2021Became Legal in Chile
  • Sep 26 2021Became Legal in Switzerland
  • Sep 15 2021Became Illegal in Kābul
  • Mar 1 2021Became Illegal in Panama

Same-sex adoption

The ability for same-sex couples to legally adopt a child.

Summary

52
Legal
52 regions (22%)
Legal
128
Somewhere in between
128 regions (55%)
Somewhere in between
40
Illegal
40 regions (17%)
Illegal
12
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
12 regions (5%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
Europe
40%
LEGAL EQUALITY
Legal
21 regions (40%)
Somewhere in between
23 regions (44%)
Illegal
6 regions (12%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
2 regions (4%)
Oceania
29%
LEGAL EQUALITY
Legal
7 regions (29%)
Somewhere in between
15 regions (63%)
Illegal
1 regions (4%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
1 regions (4%)
South America
50%
LEGAL EQUALITY
Legal
7 regions (50%)
Somewhere in between
6 regions (43%)
Illegal
1 regions (7%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
regions (0%)
North America
25%
LEGAL EQUALITY
Legal
9 regions (25%)
Somewhere in between
24 regions (67%)
Illegal
2 regions (6%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
1 regions (3%)
Africa
9%
LEGAL EQUALITY
Legal
5 regions (9%)
Somewhere in between
41 regions (70%)
Illegal
12 regions (20%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
1 regions (2%)
Asia
7%
LEGAL EQUALITY
Legal
3 regions (7%)
Somewhere in between
19 regions (41%)
Illegal
18 regions (39%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
6 regions (13%)

Progress over time

Number of countries with equality for same-sex adoption over the past 60 years.

Recent changes

Same-sex adoption by country

(and dependent territories)

Married couples only

Same-sex adoption is married couples only in 1 regions.

  1. Oceania (1)
  2. New Zealand 2013

Single only

Same-sex adoption is single only in 126 regions.

  1. South America (6)
  2. Bolivia 2002
  3. Ecuador 2008
  4. Guyana 2017
  5. Peru
  6. Suriname
  7. Venezuela

Step-child adoption only

Same-sex adoption is step-child adoption only in 1 regions.

  1. Europe (1)
  2. Estonia 2017

No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous

Data on same-sex adoption is unclear, not applicable, or missing in 12 regions.

  1. North America (1)
  2. Mexico
  3. Africa (1)
  4. Namibia
  5. Oceania (1)
  6. Fiji
  7. Antarctica (1)
  8. Antarctica

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