The Essence and Legal Framework of Domestic Adoption
Domestic adoption is the legal procedure through which a child is placed in the adopter's family and the full set of personal and property rights and duties existing between blood relatives arises between the adopter, the adopted child and their descendants. This field is regulated by the Georgian Law on Adoption and Foster Care: its Article 5 determines who may become an adopter, Article 6 determines who may be adopted, Article 16 sets out the restrictions connected with adoption, Article 20 governs the court proceedings, and Article 24 defines the legal consequences of the decision.
This page brings together practical information for those planning domestic adoption in Georgia: which requirements a prospective adopter must satisfy, how a child receives the status of an adoptable child, which restrictions apply to the procedure, which court hears the case, and what follows once the court decision enters into legal force. Everything stated here rests on the precise wording of the law, and where the law leaves a matter to other provisions, this is said openly rather than filled in with assumptions.
Who May Be an Adopter and Who May Be Adopted
Under Article 5 of the law, an adopter may be any adult person with full legal capacity, with the exception of the persons excluded by the same article. Specifically, an adopter cannot be a person:
- whose parental right has been revoked, or who previously had an adopted person, acted as guardian or trustee of a minor, or had a person placed with them for foster care, where that relationship was terminated due to improper performance of duties;
- whose parental rights and duties are restricted under the procedure established by Georgian legislation due to non-exercise of parental rights and non-performance of duties, or their improper exercise or performance;
- whose state of health, according to the list of diseases approved by the ministry, prevents the proper performance of parental duties;
- who has been convicted by a court for a grave or especially grave crime and whose conviction has not been removed or expunged under the procedure established by Georgian legislation;
- who has been convicted of a crime provided for by a separate chapter of the Criminal Code and whose conviction has not been removed or expunged under the procedure established by Georgian legislation.
Adoption applies to a person under the age of 18 recorded in the registry who has been granted the status of an adoptable child (Article 6). This status is granted to a child whose parent or parents have been declared missing or dead by a court; who is an orphan; who has been recognised as an abandoned child; whose parent or parents have been deprived of parental rights; or whose every legal representative has consented to the adoption in the manner determined by the minister. The status of an adoptable child is granted by a decision of the corresponding guardianship and care body, after which the data about the child are recorded in the registry.