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Adoption

• About adoption
  • Adopting a child
  • Differences between biological and adoptive parenting
  • Adoption programs
  • Adoptive parent education
• For birth parents
  • Consent to adoption
  • Finalising adoption
  • After your child is adopted
• Adopting a child from Queensland
  • General Children's Adoption Program
  • Frequently asked questions about Queensland adoption
• Adopting a step-child or relative
  • Relative and Step-Parent Adoption Program
  • Issues to consider
  • Alternatives to adoption
  • Consent requirements
  • Leave of the Family Court
• Adopting a child with special needs
  • Special Needs Children's Adoption Program
• Adopting a child born overseas
  • Intercountry Adoption Program
  • Overseas country information
  • Frequently asked questions about overseas adoption
  • Intercountry adoptive parent education
• After adoption
  • Release of information
  • Mailbox Program
• Library
• Contacts
  • Community organisations
  • Other government contacts
  • Raising concerns or complaints

Issues to consider

Relatives and step-parents sometimes think that positive outcomes will automatically result from the making of an Adoption Order, without realising that there are a number of potential issues associated with relative or step-parent adoption.

The following are some of the issues that need to be considered when exploring whether adoption by a relative or step-parent is in a child's best interests:

• Adoption permanently severs the legal relationship between the child and relatives who are, or could be, significant to the child.
• Adoption may stop family members from being able to be clear about their legal relationships and may stop a child from being able to have a clear understanding of their biological background.
• Adoption can make children feel that they have to choose between different adults who are all important to them. This is painful and can lead to problems as the child grows older.
• Children often develop feelings of loyalty and gratitude towards a step-parent and as a result children may go along with their parents' and step-parents' plan for adoption even if they are not comfortable with adoption.
• A child's sense of security in a step-family does not come from legalising the child-parent relationship, but rather from the child's everyday experience of being loved and protected by their step-parent.
• An adopted child loses any rights to maintenance and inheritance from the non-custodial parent or that parent's family.

Adoption Orders are permanent

Adoption of a step-child or relative is a permanent arrangement that cannot be altered. A legally made Adoption Order cannot be reversed. Any step-parent or relative who becomes the adoptive parent of their step-child or relative permanently remains the legal parent of the adopted person.

Parents need to be aware that although a marriage may dissolve after an Adoption Order is made, the dissolution of the marriage does not provide grounds for an Adoption Order to be discharged.

At times our department has been contacted by people who have been adopted by their step-parents– step-fathers who have adopted their step-children and mothers whose children have been adopted by their step-father – after the family has separated by divorce.

In some instances, the adopted person has requested that:

• the Adoption Order be discharged and the step-parent's name be removed from the person's birth certificate and the birth parent's name be re-instated
• the Adoption Order be discharged because the person (who was a child at the time of the adoption) felt that they were too young to understand the effect of the Adoption Order at the time it was made
• the Adoption Order be discharged so that the adoptive step-parent can cease to be legally responsible for child support and to cancel their adopted child's right to inherit from them.

In view of these requests, we are required to ensure that all parents considering step-parent adoption for a child are fully informed of the legal consequences of adoption and the life-long implications of adoption.

Further information

For information about adopting a relative or step-child in Queensland, contact our Adoption Services Queensland Unit.

Last updated

19 October 2007