Adoption and Children Act 2002 Explanatory Notes

Commentary on Sections

Part 1 – Adoption

Chapter 4 – Status of Adopted Children
Section 68: Adoptive relatives

194.Section 68 (1) and (2) enable a relationship that exists as a consequence of section 67 to be described in law as an adoptive relationship. An adopter may be referred to as an adoptive parent or as an adoptive father or an adoptive mother depending on the circumstances of the case.  However, it does not prevent any term not qualified by the word “adoptive” from being treated as including an adoptive relative.

195.Subsection (3) provides that where there is a reference to the adoptive mother and father of child, if the child has been adopted within a same sex relationship, whether by a couple or by the partner of a parent, the reference should be read as a reference to the child’s adoptive parents.

Back to top