Child Adoption in Ukraine During Martial Law

Deputy Minister of Social Policy Nazar Tanasyshyn stated that 902 children were adopted in Ukraine in 2023. However, this article is not about statistics, but about how to adopt a child in Ukraine in 2024, what the stages of adoption are, how adoption works during the war, how long the adoption process may take, and other practical information useful for prospective adoptive parents.

General Legal Information on Adoption

The Family Code of Ukraine defines adoption as the acceptance of a child by the adopter into his or her family as a son or daughter. In essence, this means that a married couple accepts a selected child into their family as their own. As a general rule, only a child, meaning a person under the age of 18, may be adopted. There are exceptions to this rule, but they will not be considered in this article.

Adoption is a rather lengthy and labor-intensive process that requires significant time from prospective adoptive parents. The final stage of this process is a court decision declaring the applicants to be the adopters of the child.

Adoption takes place only through court proceedings and only personally. Current legislation directly requires that the application for declaring persons as adopters must be submitted to the court personally by the applicants. A representative does not have the right to submit such an application on their behalf. The applicants’ participation in the court hearing is also mandatory, because both the judge and the jurors usually want to ask the applicants questions related to their decision to adopt a child.

However, this does not mean that legal representatives cannot participate in such cases. The lawyers of our bureau have already assisted in more than one successful adoption case and can explain how to adopt a child during martial law and provide legal support in court. The task of our law firm in Kyiv in such cases is to substantiate the legal side of the matter, collect the necessary documents and prepare them correctly. The applicants, in turn, must explain the moral side of their decision, its essence and motives.

It is essential to remember that adoption is carried out exclusively in the best interests of the child. If the court becomes personally and fully convinced of this during the consideration of the application, only then will the court decision be in your favor.

Among other things, it should be noted that the following documents must be attached to the application:

1. The marriage certificate of the applicants.
2. Information on the health condition of the applicants.
3. Information on the income of the applicants.
4. Documents for the property, such as an apartment or house, where the applicants and the adopted children will live.
5. Other documents required by law or documents that the applicants wish to attach, including the written consent to the adoption of the child from the institution where the child is staying.

It is also advisable to immediately attach the conclusion of the guardianship and custody authority on this matter. The following documents must be attached to this conclusion:

1. An act of inspection of the applicants’ living conditions.
2. The child’s birth certificate.
3. A medical report on the child’s health condition.
4. In certain cases established by law, the consent of the child’s parents, the institution where the child is staying, and the child’s own consent to adoption.

After receiving the application, the court schedules a hearing in the case, which the applicants must attend personally. The guardianship and custody authority is also summoned. For example, adoption in Irpin takes place with the mandatory participation of a representative of the Executive Committee of the Bucha City Council of Kyiv Region as the guardianship and custody authority, since the place of residence of the adopted children is located within the territory of this council.

In addition to the judge, jurors also participate in the case and exercise the rights of a judge during the hearing. During the court hearing, the applicants and their representatives — family lawyers — present the circumstances of the case, substantiate them and answer the questions of the judge and jurors.

After hearing the participants, if there are no circumstances requiring the case to be postponed, the court delivers a decision. If it is established that the applicants are able to provide the best possible living and development conditions for the child, the court grants the application. The lawyers of our bureau have more than one successful court decision granting adoption applications in their practice.

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Requirements for Persons Entitled to Adopt a Child

The law also establishes requirements for persons who wish to become adoptive parents. In particular, the Family Code provides the following requirements for adopters:

1. Age and legal capacity: the person must be at least 21 years old and legally capable.
2. Age difference: the adopter must be at least 15 years older than the child.
3. Adopters must be married or live as one family without official marriage registration. Persons of the same sex cannot be adopters.
4. If the child has only a father or only a mother, he or she cannot be adopted by another man or woman, except when such man and woman live as one family without registered marriage.
5. The number of children that one adopter may adopt is not limited.

The law also provides direct cases when a person cannot be an adopter. There are 14 cases in which a person cannot adopt a child. In particular, this includes persons who are legally incapable, persons with limited legal capacity, persons deprived of parental rights, stateless persons, foreigners who are not married, as well as persons who do not meet moral and legal requirements, or if the adoption would contradict the interests of the child.

Please note that the requirements for persons entitled to adopt a child are not limited only to marital status. A single person or a single woman is not included in the list of prohibitions, which means that such citizens have the right to become adopters on an equal basis with married couples.

Adoption Procedure

Adoption begins with registration as candidates for adoption. Such an application must be submitted to the children’s service at your place of residence or another authorized authority in the field of child protection. As a rule, these are executive committees of local councils or children’s services of local state administrations. These services maintain the register of candidates for adoption. The application may be submitted personally in paper form or through the Diia services portal. A step-by-step instruction is provided below.

Adoption via Diia

To use the services of the Diia portal, you should follow the link https://diia.gov.ua/ and log in. Then enter the keyword “adoption” in the search field. The system will show you the main services related to this word, as shown in the screenshot below.

You should scroll to the second section called “Services” and select the first service: “Adoption: Registration as a Candidate”.

In the window that opens, click the “Submit Application” button.

Next, you need to complete several simple steps to provide initial data to the relevant children’s service, which will accompany you throughout the entire path until the child is adopted.

Enter your actual place of residence.

Enter information about your marital status.

Select the category of the child you wish to adopt.

Mark the remaining data regarding your future child.

After clicking the “Send Data” button, your application will be sent to the relevant service, and you will receive the following notification.

You can check the status of your application in the list of ordered services. There you will see the registration number of the application and its further progress. While Diia is searching for your data, you should prepare scanned copies of your documents, which will need to be uploaded later during the next steps of registration as a candidate for adoption.

If your data is available in the registers, Diia will notify you and offer to complete the registration.

After clicking the highlighted link, you will be redirected to a window where you need to check your personal data and complete the application.

At the first step, you will be asked to check information about your income. If the data is displayed incorrectly, you will be able to upload scanned copies of documents and income certificates.

At the next stage, you will be asked to enter the details of a certificate of no criminal record and upload its scanned copy. This certificate can be ordered through the Diia application or directly on the portal.

Next, you will be asked to add documents confirming ownership or the right to use the residential premises where you plan to live with the child.

You will then need to upload a medical report on your health condition in the form established by law. Before that, you should obtain this report from your local medical institution. As a rule, this is usually a family medicine outpatient clinic.

After that, the system will offer you to review the prepared application. Please note that Diia automatically determines the authority to which the application should be sent and allows you to review the application before signing it.

Only after you are sure and have checked all the data can you sign the application and send it for processing to the relevant service.

After receiving your application, employees of the relevant service will visit your place of residence and inspect your housing conditions. An official inspection act will be drawn up.

Documents for Child Adoption

After the inspection act is drawn up, the relevant service forms the personal file of the candidates for adoption.

The documents included in the personal file of adoptive parents usually include the following:

1. Passports and taxpayer registration numbers of the adopters.
2. Marriage certificate.
3. Medical reports on the health condition of the candidates.
4. References of the candidates from their place of residence and work.
5. Income certificates of the candidates.
6. Extracts confirming the presence or absence of criminal records.
7. Documents confirming ownership of the housing where the adopters and the child plan to live.
8. The candidates must also successfully complete training on the upbringing of orphans and children deprived of parental care and receive the relevant certificate. As a rule, this course is completed before submitting the application for registration as candidates for adoption.

After the personal file is formed and the documents are reviewed, the children’s service prepares a conclusion on the possibility of the spouses being candidates for adoption. If this conclusion is positive, the persons are registered as candidates for adoption with the relevant service.

Subsequently, in the order of priority, the children’s service provides candidates with a referral to meet a child. You may also independently search for a child you wish to adopt. On the website of the Ministry of Social Policy, you can view information about children who may be adopted, including basic data such as age, health condition, disability status, possible form of placement and the service where they are registered.

By contacting the relevant service, you may also obtain a referral to meet the child at his or her place of stay. Based on this referral, candidates for adoption meet the child in the institution where the child is temporarily placed. The fact of the meeting is recorded in a relevant act by a representative of the institution where the child is staying and a representative of the children’s service.

If the candidates for adoption decide to adopt this child, documents must be prepared for submitting an application to the court. In this case, it is also important to obtain the conclusion of the guardianship and custody authority on the expediency of adoption by these particular adopters. Such a conclusion is prepared and issued by the guardianship and custody authority at the child’s place of stay. For adoption in Irpin, such a conclusion is prepared by the executive committee of the Bucha or Irpin City Council.

At the same time, it should be noted that adoption through Diia is impossible. Through the Diia portal, you can only submit an application and initial documents for registration as candidates for adoption. Actual adoption takes place only in court, under the jurisdiction of which the institution where the child lives is located.

After the application is received by the court, the court appoints the date and time of the hearing. The case is considered with the participation of a judge and two jurors. The hearing takes place only in a closed court session, because this ensures the confidentiality of adoption.

As a result of the court hearing, the court issues a decision declaring the applicants to be the adopters of the child. At the request of the adopters, changes may be made to the child’s personal data, including surname, first name, patronymic, date and place of birth, and the civil registration authority may be obliged to issue a new birth certificate. In this case, the adopters are recorded as the child’s parents in the birth record. Before the court decision enters into legal force, the adopters may withdraw their consent to adoption, which results in cancellation of the court decision and leaving the application without consideration.

Specifics of Adoption During the War

During the war, adoption cases are considered by courts under the general procedure. As a rule, such cases have a certain priority over other cases and are often heard more quickly, although not by all judges. The average time for consideration of such cases is 1–3 months. From practice, the fastest consideration of such a case took 14 days, while the longest took 6 months.

The requirements for candidates and for the child have not changed. The war cannot be a ground for ignoring the interests of the child. Therefore, one should not expect lower requirements than usual. Instead, it is necessary to prepare carefully for this important stage of life.

Who Can Adopt a Child

A child may be adopted by both citizens of Ukraine and foreign citizens. The requirements for adoption by citizens of Ukraine are described in detail in this article, including the requirements for adopters, the procedure and approximate timeframes of such adoption.

The requirements for adoption by foreign citizens require separate detailed analysis, as they are extensive in content. However, the main restriction during martial law should be understood immediately.

Adoption of Children by Foreign Citizens

In accordance with paragraph 135 of the Procedure for Adoption Activities and Supervision of the Rights of Adopted Children, approved by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 905 dated October 8, 2008, during martial law and for three months after its termination or cancellation, adoption-related activities involving children who are citizens of Ukraine by citizens of Ukraine who temporarily or permanently reside outside Ukraine, as well as by foreign citizens, are generally not carried out.

This means that during martial law, foreign citizens cannot adopt children who are citizens of Ukraine under the standard intercountry adoption procedure.

At the same time, this rule should not be interpreted too broadly without checking the specific circumstances of the case. Official explanations of the National Social Service of Ukraine indicate that certain exceptions may apply. In particular, adoption during martial law may be possible when the foreign citizen or a citizen of Ukraine residing abroad is a relative of the child, or when the child is a biological brother or sister of a child previously adopted by the same family.

A foreign citizen who is married to a citizen of Ukraine may also adopt the child of his or her spouse during martial law, regardless of whether the family resides in Ukraine or abroad.

Therefore, if a foreign citizen is considering adoption of a child who is a citizen of Ukraine, it is necessary to first check the child’s legal status, the applicant’s status, family relationship, place of residence, available documents and whether the case falls within the exceptions provided by the current procedure. In such situations, individual legal advice is strongly recommended before taking any formal steps.

Adoption of Children by Single People

Adoption of children by single people is also possible. The requirements for such people are similar to those for married couples, except for documents related to marital relations. The law does not establish any restrictions for this category of citizens. Adoptive parents may also be only the husband or only the wife if the parties are married. In this case, the consent of the other spouse is required.

In general, the procedure for adoption by single people does not differ from the standard procedure, and you may rely on the information described above in this article.

Legal Assistance with Adoption in Kyiv, Irpin and Ukraine

The law firm provides consulting and practical assistance with child adoption, including adoption during the war. As a rule, we help adopt children who live in our region, but at the same time we can provide assistance with this issue throughout Ukraine.

The main assistance includes explaining the adoption procedure and its stages, as well as mandatory participation in the court hearing on the adoption application. A lawyer is always present at the court hearing and provides all necessary practical and legal assistance to the applicants for the successful completion of the case and the adoption decision.

Therefore, if you need assistance with child adoption in Kyiv, Irpin or anywhere in Ukraine, please contact us. We can help you.

FAQ

How to adopt a child?

The adoption of a child takes place in court upon application by the adoptive parents.

How to adopt a child during war?

To adopt a child, you need to go through several stages of adoption from candidates to applicants for adoption of a child. To do this, consult an adoption lawyer.
Important! During the period of martial law, foreigners cannot adopt children who are citizens of Ukraine!

What are the requirements for persons eligible for adoption?

At a minimum, the adopter must be legally competent, be at least 21 years old, and be 15 years older than the child they wish to adopt. They must also have housing and income.

Can a single woman/man adopt a child?

Yes, it is possible. The law does not set any restrictions for adoption by a single woman/man, although it does give preference to married couples if several candidates wish to adopt one child.

Is it possible to adopt through Diya?

Through the Act, an application can be submitted for registration as a candidate for adoptive parents, and the actual adoption is carried out by the court based on the personal application of the adoptive parents.

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