Adoption and Children Act (Northern Ireland) 2022

Adoptive relatives

67.—(1) A relationship existing by virtue of section 66 may be referred to as an adoptive relationship, and—

(a) an adopter may be referred to as an adoptive parent or (as the case may be) as an adoptive father or adoptive mother;

(b) any other relative of any degree under an adoptive relationship may be referred to as an adoptive relative of that degree.

(2) Subsection (1) does not affect the interpretation of any reference, not qualified by the word “adoptive”, to a relationship.

(3) A reference (however expressed) to the adoptive mother and father of a child adopted by—

(a) two persons of the same sex who are a couple; or

(b) a partner of the child’s parent, where the couple are of the same sex,

is to be read as a reference to the child’s adoptive parents.