mysid: (rainbow flag)
mysid ([personal profile] mysid) wrote2012-06-14 04:40 pm

Legal Question for UK

I've got a HP plot bunny I'm working on, and I need to know about same-sex parents' adopting in the UK. Specifically, if one person is the biological parent of a child, can his/her same-sex partner adopt that child? (The other biological parent has given up parental rights.) If the answer is yes, then do you know in what year that became legal?

I did try looking it up, and I will gladly research it more later, but I thought someone might already know.
queen_ypolita: Woman in a Mucha painting (Mucha by auctrix_icons)

[personal profile] queen_ypolita 2012-06-15 07:59 am (UTC)(link)
I'm not entirely sure, and certainly not about the date, but as far as I can see, a parent's civil partner would be able to adopt the same way as a parent's married spouse would, and that's been the case since the civil partnerships have been available (2005?). I have no idea how things might have worked out before that, or how it works for partners not married/civil-partnered to the parent. Adoption basics from Directgov and adopting a step-child might be a good place to start figuring out what the rules are; also note that the specifics may be slightly different in England/Wales and Scotland