Petition · past parliament

Make adult adoption legal in the UK

Closed 211 signatures

What the petition asks

Many people today do not live in traditional nuclear families; and many children form a stronger bond with a step-parent or relationship with someone of a similar nature as opposed to a biological parent.
It seems, for many reasons, children and their potential adopters don't get the opportunity to discuss and/or execute adoption until the child has reached legal adulthood; and by this point the UK government no longer views the said child as eligible for adoption.
The implications of this are social and legal issues that arise later in life surrounding the relationship between child and, for example, step-parent.
I believe the 2002 UK Adoption and Children Act is outdated for modern day Britain.

Timeline

9 Sep 2016 Petition opened for signatures
9 Mar 2017 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 211
Status Closed
Opened 9 Sep 2016
Closed 9 Mar 2017

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.