Step-Parent Adoptions
The decline in the number of adoptions, so often quoted by the Press, is largely due to the changes in the law in 1975 that made adoptions by mother and step-father virtually impossible. These were a regular feature of Magistrates work at the time. In fact, although the number of such cases dropped sharply, they remain a significant proportion of adoption applications and received a sharp boost by the Child Support Act, which prompted many couples to agree with the natural father to allow them to adopt, thereby ridding him of the liability to support the child - even though he might continue to have contact.
The requirement of the Children Act 1975 - to refuse an adoption application by step-parents unless satisfied that no other order would protect the interests of the child - has been abolished, but most courts will observe the same basic principle, that to deprive the child of the opportunity for contact with the father and his family (often the main purpose of the application) is of no advantage to the child as such. The need for the child to be embraced in the new family, a much more praise-worthy objective, can adequately be met by a joint residence order, which gives the step-parent parental responsibility and all the rights of a parent. Change of name can also be ordered at the same time.
There are cases, it's true, where an adoption order would be of real benefit to the child, especially when the natural father has never played a part in his or her life. Applicants must satisfy all the usual requirements of the law, in particular that they must be married and demonstrate a stable and durable relationship, and undergo all the other investigations by Social Services and the courts that are part of the adoption process.