Legal status around the world
Gay adoption is legal in Sweden, the Netherlands, Andorra, Spain, England and Wales and Belgium. Iceland, Norway, Germany and Denmark allow "stepchild-adoption" so that the partner in a civil union can adopt the natural (or sometimes even adopted) child of his partner. In the Republic of Ireland and some other countries, individual persons, whether heterosexual/homosexual, cohabiting/single may apply for adoption.
In February 2006, France's Court of Cassation ruled that both partners in a same-sex relationship can have parental rights over one partner's biological child. The result came from a case where a woman tried to give parental rights of her two daughters to her partner who she was in a civil union with.[1]
Within the U.S., California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Vermont, Washington state, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C. allow adoption by openly gay and lesbian couples. [2] [3] Florida is the only state that completely prohibits gay adoption. Mississippi, Oklahoma, Colorado and Utah all make same-sex adoption virtually impossible. Critics of anti-gay adoption policies also point out that in many of the states that have bans on gay adoption, gays are still able to act as foster parents.
Legal status of gay adoption in North America. In Canada, adoption is within provincial/territorial jurisdiction, and thus the law differs between each province and territory. Gay adoption is legal in British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, and the Northwest Territories. In Alberta, gay men and lesbians can only legally adopt their partner's child. Gay adoption is illegal in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nunavut. In the Yukon, the law regarding adoption is ambiguous, and it is not known if gays and lesbians can legally adopt there. NDP MP Libby Davies, who is in a same-sex relationship, has campaigned for national uniformity when it comes to gay adoption.
In Australia, gay adoption is legal in the Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia, while step-child adoption is possible in Tasmania.
A January 2005 ruling of the Israeli Supreme Court allowed step-child adoptions for same-sex couples. Israel previously allowed limited co-guardianship rights for non-biological parents.