Adoption Numbers in Germany Fall to Lowest Level Since 1990

The statisticians explained the development, among other factors, by an ongoing decline in classic non-family adoptions. "Eine Erklärung für die insgesamt sinkenden Fallzahlen ist der anhaltende Rückgang der 'klassischen' Fremdadoptionen - also der Adoptionen durch Personen, die weder Stiefeltern noch Verwandte des Kindes sind", they wrote. The development is also attributable to stepmothers in same-sex partnerships: "Wird ein Kind in eine bestehende Partnerschaft von zwei Frauen hineingeboren, kann die Partnerin die Rechtsstellung eines leiblichen Elternteils nur über eine Stiefkindadoption erlangen", the Federal Statistical Office explained.

Decline in Classic Non-Family Adoptions

Of approximately 1,590 stepmother adoptions last year, 80 percent of cases involved same-sex female couples who had not provided information about the child's father. The number of such adoptions has risen significantly in recent years and is a major contributor to the changing mix of adoption types in Germany.

According to the statisticians, only 1.6 percent – or 56 children – were adopted from abroad last year. This figure has also been declining for years. As a result, international adoption continues to lose significance in Germany, while within-family and stepchild adoptions dominate the statistics.

Age and Background of Adopted Children

Thirty-one percent of those adopted were one or two years old. On average, age was 5.1 years, according to the agency. This means that primarily infants and young children are adopted in Germany; older children and adolescents play a smaller role in the statistics.

Regarding the background of the adoptions, the Federal Statistical Office further reported that 10 percent of children were adopted from a hospital or a mother-and-child home, and 8 percent from a foster family. In 3 percent of cases, the adoption was preceded by an anonymous birth or a baby hatch. These pathways together account for only a small share of all adoptions, but they show that children continue to be taken into the care of new families under difficult circumstances.

Overall, the figures illustrate a long-running trend: classic adoption by unrelated persons is losing significance in Germany, while stepchild adoptions and adoptions in the context of new partnerships of a biological parent are on the rise. The agency sees these as the main drivers of the overall decline in volume over recent years.