It is the goal of an agency like ours to offer as many adoption opportunities as we can to prospective adoptive parents. Working with countries where the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention) regulates Intercountry adoption processing ensures a fair and clear process. Besides the Hague Convention it is also Federal law which regulates adoption in Portugal.
Who may be adopted:
The maximum age for the adoptee is 15 years at the time of the formal adoption petition to the Court. However, children may be adopted up to the age of 18 years, if the child has not been declared an adult and is either already the child of the adopter’s spouse, or has been cared for by one of the adopters prior to the age of 15.
There is no minimum age for a child to be adopted. However, the biological mother may not consent to adoption until the child has reached the age of six weeks.
Who may adopt:
Adoption has been open to single persons as well as hextrosexual and same sex couples
According to the Civil Code, a couple who wishes to adopt jointly may do so only if they are married. In 2001, Art. 7 of Lei No. 772001 of May 11 extended this right to unmarried cohabiters, but only for opposite sex couples.
Age requirements:
Couples married for at least four years, not being separated either by law or in fact, may adopt jointly if both spouses are over 25 years of age. Single persons may adopt if they are over 30 years of age, or over 25 years of age if the adoptee is the spouse’s child.
The maximum age for adopters is 60 years at the time they take the child into care. The age difference between adopter and adoptee should not be more than 50 years.