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On Wednesday 2 April 2025, Luxembourg's Ministry of Justice announced that the Chamber of Deputies (parliament) approved the adoption law reform, aimed at modernising the legal framework for adoption.
In a press release, the ministry stated that the adoption law is being reformed to reflect the evolution of society and the family model as it exists today in all its diversity.
The ministry added that, with the modernisation of the legal framework for adoption, children's rights are strengthened while ensuring equal treatment for adults wishing to adopt. The reform foresees the following:
- simple adoption and full adoption are now open to couples in a registered partnership and to couples who live together;
- the adoption of stepchildren, previously reserved for married couples, has been extended to partners and cohabitants;
- full adoption is now open to (single) individuals;
- the adopted minor, capable of discernment, becomes an active part of the adoption process. They must give their consent to the adoption;
- the minimum age gap of fifteen years between the adoptive parent and the adopted child is maintained, but the judge now has the power to waive this minimum age requirement for justifiable reasons.
Luxembourg's Minister of Justice, Elisabeth Margue, said: "Our legal framework must take into account the modern society in which we live and, more specifically, all the types of families that now exist. Always respecting the best interests of the child, we ensure that anyone capable of providing a stable and loving family for a child will be able to do so."
The Ministry of Justice clarified that simple adoption allows the adopted child to retain all their rights and obligations in their family of origin, including their hereditary rights. Full adoption grants the adoptee and their descendants the same rights and obligations as if they were born of the adoptive parents' marriage. Adoption replaces the original filiation and severs all ties between the adoptee and their blood family, except when the adoption involves the child of the spouse - in this case, it maintains their original filiation with respect to the spouse and their family. Both forms of adoption are characterised by the creation by judgment of a filiation between the adoptee and the person(s) adopting them.
HOM
