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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

Same-sex adoption

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

Summary

52
Legal
52 regions (22%)
Legal
124
Somewhere in between
124 regions (53%)
Somewhere in between
35
Illegal
35 regions (15%)
Illegal
21
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
21 regions (9%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
Europe
42%
LEGAL EQUALITY
Legal
22 regions (42%)
Somewhere in between
20 regions (39%)
Illegal
6 regions (12%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
4 regions (8%)
Oceania
29%
LEGAL EQUALITY
Legal
7 regions (29%)
Somewhere in between
16 regions (67%)
Illegal
regions (0%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
1 regions (4%)
South America
50%
LEGAL EQUALITY
Legal
7 regions (50%)
Somewhere in between
5 regions (36%)
Illegal
regions (0%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
2 regions (14%)
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
10%
LEGAL EQUALITY
Legal
6 regions (10%)
Somewhere in between
38 regions (64%)
Illegal
13 regions (22%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
2 regions (3%)
Asia
2%
LEGAL EQUALITY
Legal
1 regions (2%)
Somewhere in between
21 regions (46%)
Illegal
14 regions (30%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
10 regions (22%)

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)

Legal

Same-sex adoption is legal in 52 regions.

  1. Asia (1)
  2. Israel 2008
  3. Europe (22)
  4. Andorra 2014
  5. Austria 2015
  6. Belgium 2006
  7. Croatia 2022
  8. Denmark 2009
  9. Estonia 2017
  10. Finland 2017
  11. France 2013
  12. Germany 2017
  13. Iceland 2006
  14. Ireland 2015
  15. Isle of Man 2011
  16. Luxembourg 2015
  17. Malta 2014
  18. Netherlands 2000
  19. Norway 2009
  20. Portugal 2015
  21. Slovenia 2022
  22. Spain 2005
  23. Sweden 2002
  24. Switzerland 2021
  25. United Kingdom 2002
  26. North America (9)
  27. Bermuda 2015
  28. Canada 1995
  29. Costa Rica 2020
  30. Cuba 2022
  31. Greenland 2015
  32. Guadeloupe
  33. Martinique
  34. Saint Pierre and Miquelon 2013
  35. United States 2017
  36. Africa (6)
  37. British Indian Ocean Territory
  38. Mauritius 2008
  39. Mayotte 2013
  40. Réunion 2013
  41. Saint Helena
  42. South Africa 2010
  43. Oceania (7)
  44. Australia 2018
  45. Christmas Island
  46. Cocos (Keeling) Islands
  47. French Polynesia 2013
  48. New Caledonia 2013
  49. Norfolk Island
  50. Wallis and Futuna
  51. South America (7)
  52. Argentina 2010
  53. Brazil 2000
  54. Chile 2021
  55. Colombia 2015
  56. Falkland Islands 2017
  57. French Guiana
  58. Uruguay 2009

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 122 regions.

  1. Asia (21)
  2. Bangladesh
  3. Bhutan
  4. India
  5. Indonesia
  6. Iraq
  7. Jordan
  8. Kuwait
  9. Kyrgyzstan 2005
  10. Lebanon
  11. Macau 2017
  12. Malaysia 1826
  13. Maldives
  14. Mongolia 2017
  15. Myanmar 2016
  16. Nepal 2017
  17. Palestine
  18. Philippines
  19. Syria
  20. Timor-Leste
  21. Turkmenistan
  22. Vietnam 2000
  23. Europe (20)
  24. Albania 2017
  25. Armenia
  26. Belarus 2016
  27. Bosnia and Herzegovina 2017
  28. Bulgaria 2017
  29. Faroe Islands
  30. Greece 1996
  31. Kosovo
  32. Latvia
  33. Liechtenstein 2011
  34. Lithuania
  35. Moldova 2012
  36. Montenegro
  37. North Macedonia
  38. Poland 2016
  39. Romania
  40. San Marino
  41. Slovakia 2017
  42. Turkey
  43. Ukraine 2016
  44. North America (24)
  45. Anguilla
  46. Antigua and Barbuda
  47. Aruba
  48. Bahamas 2017
  49. Barbados
  50. Belize
  51. British Virgin Islands
  52. Cayman Islands
  53. Curaçao
  54. Dominica
  55. Dominican Republic
  56. Grenada
  57. Guatemala
  58. Haiti
  59. Honduras 2017
  60. Jamaica 2017
  61. Montserrat
  62. Nicaragua 2017
  63. Saint Kitts and Nevis
  64. Saint Lucia
  65. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
  66. Sint Maarten
  67. Trinidad and Tobago 1947
  68. Turks and Caicos Islands
  69. Africa (37)
  70. Angola
  71. Benin
  72. Botswana
  73. Burkina Faso
  74. Burundi
  75. Cameroon
  76. Cape Verde
  77. Central African Republic 2017
  78. Chad
  79. Comoros
  80. Côte d’Ivoire
  81. Democratic Republic of the Congo 2017
  82. Equatorial Guinea
  83. Eritrea 2010
  84. Eswatini 1968
  85. Gabon
  86. Gambia
  87. Guinea
  88. Guinea-Bissau
  89. Liberia
  90. Libya 2017
  91. Madagascar
  92. Malawi
  93. Mali 2011
  94. Nigeria
  95. Republic of the Congo
  96. Sao Tome and Principe
  97. Senegal 2017
  98. Seychelles
  99. Sierra Leone
  100. Somalia
  101. South Sudan
  102. Sudan
  103. Togo
  104. Uganda
  105. Western Sahara
  106. Zimbabwe
  107. Oceania (15)
  108. Cook Islands
  109. Federated States of Micronesia 2017
  110. Kiribati
  111. Marshall Islands
  112. Nauru
  113. Niue
  114. Palau
  115. Papua New Guinea
  116. Pitcairn Islands 2001
  117. Samoa 2017
  118. Solomon Islands
  119. Tokelau 2013
  120. Tonga
  121. Tuvalu
  122. Vanuatu
  123. South America (5)
  124. Bolivia 2002
  125. Ecuador 2008
  126. Guyana 2017
  127. Suriname
  128. Venezuela

Step-child adoption only

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

  1. Africa (1)
  2. Ghana

Illegal

Same-sex adoption is illegal in 35 regions.

  1. Asia (14)
  2. Bahrain
  3. Brunei 1951
  4. Iran
  5. Kazakhstan
  6. Oman
  7. Qatar 1915
  8. Saudi Arabia 1932
  9. South Korea
  10. Sri Lanka 2017
  11. Tajikistan
  12. Thailand
  13. United Arab Emirates
  14. Uzbekistan
  15. Yemen
  16. Europe (6)
  17. Azerbaijan 1999
  18. Cyprus
  19. Czech Republic
  20. Hungary 2020
  21. Monaco
  22. Vatican City
  23. North America (2)
  24. El Salvador
  25. Panama 2021
  26. Africa (13)
  27. Djibouti 2017
  28. Egypt
  29. Ethiopia
  30. Kenya 2002
  31. Lesotho 1966
  32. Mauritania 1983
  33. Morocco
  34. Mozambique 1886
  35. Niger
  36. Rwanda
  37. Tanzania
  38. Tunisia 1957
  39. Zambia

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

Data on same-sex adoption is unclear, not applicable, or missing in 21 regions.

  1. Asia (10)
  2. Afghanistan
  3. Cambodia
  4. China
  5. Hong Kong
  6. Japan
  7. Laos
  8. North Korea
  9. Pakistan
  10. Singapore
  11. Taiwan
  12. Europe (4)
  13. Georgia
  14. Italy
  15. Russia
  16. Serbia
  17. North America (1)
  18. Mexico
  19. Africa (2)
  20. Algeria
  21. Namibia
  22. Oceania (1)
  23. Fiji
  24. South America (2)
  25. Paraguay
  26. Peru
  27. Antarctica (1)
  28. Antarctica

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