If you live in the UK and are considering adopting a child from outside the UK, you must follow the correct procedures or you will commit a criminal offence.
For more information about adopting a child from outside the UK, please contact our specialist team.
Parental Responsibility is defined as all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority of a parent. If you have Parental Responsibility for a child, you have the authority to act as a parent.
Mothers automatically acquire Parental responsibility.
If you are your child’s legal father (or a lesbian non-birth mother who is a legal parent at the time your child is conceived), you acquire parental responsibility by:
- Marrying (or forming a civil partnership with) your child’s mother
- Being registered on your child’s birth certificate (after 1 December 2003)
- Signing a parental responsibility agreement with your child’s mother.
- Obtaining a Parental Responsibility Order from the court.