Article 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights (“the ECHR”) upholds the right to start a family. The 1998 Human Rights Act enshrines this right in UK law. The right to start a family includes the right to adopt a child. The ECHR does not oblige governments to provide adoption facilities; it does require governments to ensure that any systems for adoption which operate do not interfere with this right.
If you believe your human rights have been violated in relation to adoption or family matters, you can describe your circumstances using our free Rights Situation Checker.
Article 14 of the ECHR states that the other rights contained in it should be applied without discrimination on any basis including sex, race, birth or “other status”. In broad terms the ECHR protects both the right to adopt a child and to enjoy the other rights contained within it without discrimination - regardless of whether one is adopted or adopts.
Equality Laws and Adoption
Recent UK equality laws restricted the ability of organisations to discriminate in the provision of services. The laws have meant that some religious, charitable organisations which previously provided adoption services may be prevented from doing so because they did not provide adoption services on an equal basis to all members of society. For example, some Catholic adoption charities - which only provided adoption services to heterosexual, married couples - breached the new equality laws.
UK equality laws do give some leeway to religious organisations which discriminate in accordance with the doctrine of their religion. However, anti-discrimination laws will be more strictly applied to publicly-funded adoption services operating in the wider community than to a religious organisation which operates on a more private level.
Describe what has happened and find out which UK human rights protections apply and what you can do.
Try our Rights Situation Checker free, here on this site →Rights of an Adopted Child
The laws which apply to adopted children depend, to some extent, on when they were adopted. The Adoption Act 1976 applies to children adopted before 30th December 2005 and the Adoption and Children Act 2002 applies to children adopted from 30th December 2005 onwards. However, many of the rules contained in the two Acts are similar.
When a child is adopted in accordance with UK law, the child generally acquires all the rights and entitlements of a biological child. In legal terms it is as if the adopted child was born to their adoptive parent or parents. A child who is legally adopted by British citizens will usually be treated as a British citizen regardless of the country of its birth.
Children adopted in accordance with UK law will also have the same rights to inherit their adoptive parents’ estates as would biological children. If a person dies intestate, (ie. without having made a will,) their adopted child has the same right to inherit their estate, or a share of it, as any biological children. This right is dependent on the child having been validly adopted in accordance with UK law and the entitlement may not exist if a child is adopted abroad and the foreign adoption was not formalised under UK law. Adopted children lose the automatic right to inherit from their biological parents.
In most of the UK, children who have reached the age of 18 have the right to see their full birth certificate, which may reveal that the child is adopted and give the name of their biological parents. In Scotland children have the right to see their birth certificate from the age of 16. A record of all children who have been adopted is now kept on the Adopted Children Register.
Adopted children who have reached the age of 18 may use another register, the Adopted Contact Register, to find their biological relatives. By adding their details to the Register an adopted child indicates to their biological relatives that they wish to contact them. However, the biological relatives must also have registered their details for this system of contact to be effective.
Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.
Rights of Adoptive Parents
Technically anyone over the age of 21 is eligible, and “has the right”, to be an adoptive parent. However, according to the Adoption and Children Act 2002, the welfare of the child must be the “paramount consideration” of both adoption agencies and of any court asked to make an adoption order. Therefore, a wide range of eligibility criteria can, and will, be applied to prospective parents.
These criteria should only relate to factors likely to influence an applicant’s ability to be a good parent and may vary according to the individual child. The line between discriminating against a prospective parent and protecting the child’s best interests may sometimes be blurred. For example, opinion is divided on whether children should only be adopted by those who share the child's ethnic background. Prospective parents who are rejected because they are from a different ethnic background could claim that they have been discriminated against and had their human rights curtailed. However, if this decision is deemed to be in the child's best interests the prospective parents' rights may have to take second place to the child's welfare.
I adopted two kids on international adoption and got my nationality after the process.
Can the keep their original passport as well? The origin country is OK with that...
They would like to participate in international sports competition under their colors.
The paediatrician lied and covered up this, never informed us, despite our rights as parents and we consequently adopted 2 full siblings.
We have been misled for 23 years, only now discovering that no testing ever took place and that the Local Authority and paediatrician have conspired to cover up their errors.
My sister/aunt has recently passed and I beleive that because I was not adopted by my family and even though i was christened my grandmothers name and had the same surname as my aunties and uncles i cannot make a claim from the estate.
Any information would be greatly appreciated thanks.
Obviously I am also feel betrayed by my Aunts shameful conduct, (I knew the family well and we met on several occasions over 30 years- and they also knew well how close me, my father and my children were to him - but I feel totally totally disrespected and devalued by the Law - who I feel should protect people in my position.. How can it be that a man who treated me as a son as soon as he was aware of my existence and able to do so - (plenty of evidence of that) - should be treated differently when it comes to his estate.
Of course, this situation would not even arise if my aunt's family not removed the Will - but I still feel I that I am being discriminated against - whereas others seem to view my reaction as being presumptious - whereas it actually confirms the rejection and distress that adopted people know so well. Why would the court take the side of an acquisitional millionaire Aunt rather than a deceased's only child and family of very modest means? Any ideas appreciated..
I was adopted out in the UK in 1960. My biological mother (EC) met my biological father (DO'D) - an American studying in Ireland. EC ended the relationship without telling him she was pregnant. She then went to the UK (concealing her pregnancy even from her own family) and gave me up for adoption. I was adopted by unrelated persons.
Adoption agency records confirm she told them who my father was and stated that he was unaware of my existence. When I traced my Biological Mother in 1988, she finally agreed to place an advert in a newspaper in Cork, Ireland to which one of DO'D's relatives responded and ultimately DO'D got in contact with EC. EC only put me in contact with him after she had travelled to New York (where he lived) to meet him and belatedly tell him of my existence and the adoption.
We then had a close relationship over 30 years until he died in in 2018. This involved regular visits of me/him/my family to the USA, UK and Ireland. He referred to me as his son and my children as his grandchildren. He told me he had included provision for me in his Will but sadly (but perhaps predictably, I was very naive) this has gone missing. His only sister applied to administer his intestate estate and also specifically applied for me to be disinherited. She told the court that she was following her brother's interests!! This was very upsetting for me. D'OD phoned/skyped me almost on a weekly basis and I have recorded messages and photos which make it clear that we had a very close relationships.
Although there was some remaining evidence that he had written a Will I was unable to trace an original or even a copy and neither was one filed with the Surrogacy Court because immediately after his funeral his sister's family removed all of his personal and private papers from his apartment. They denied there was a Will among them and have still not given me even copies of his photos or correspondence etc..The NY probate court refused to require the sister (deemed administrator and fiduciary) to disclose/provide access to his computer records/emails (*) which would have otherwise almost certainly disclosed identity/whereabouts of his Attorneys and any home made wills - which he told me, my family and his close friends (Attorneys, Court Clerks etc..) he had made. (* the sister had previously agreed via her attorney before the court to share the papers and agree inspection of computers). Ultimately the court relied on § 117 DRL of New York State Law which states that as an "adopted-out" person I have no interest in my father's intestate estate and that it should be left entirely to his sister.
Given that my father did not even know of my existence, let alone agree to the adoption, I do not see why I am prevented from inheriting at least part of his estate and having a few of his personal possessions even for sentimental value. Shouldn't I be seen as an illegitimate or non-marital child in respect of my father's estate and adop
The SA have my records with birth father & mothers names.
They will not give me these names. Is this legal and how can I fight this as I have the right to know?
Ask About Human Rights a question
Ask our editorial team a question and we will reply with our advice. Tell us as much about your situation as you can: the more detail you give, the more useful our answer can be.
You do not need to use your real name. Please do not include your full address, phone number, email address, or the names of other people. We may edit or remove identifying details for privacy and legal reasons.
Comments are moderated before publication.