In a stepchild adoption, the partner's biological child is adopted. An adoption can make sense if, for example, there has been no contact with the separated parent for years, the other parent is deceased or unknown or stepchildren are to be treated equally under inheritance and maintenance law. In order to guarantee the welfare of these children, the requirements and suitability of the adopting parent are also checked in these cases.
Through adoption, your stepchild becomes your child from a legal point of view. You then have the same responsibility for the child as for a biological child.

All persons involved must seek advice from an adoption agency. The discussions will also focus on whether the child is doing well after the adoption.

The certificates of this counseling must be submitted to the family court during the adoption proceedings. There is an exception to the counseling obligation if the birth mother's partner is applying for adoption and both were already married to each other at the time of the child's birth or are living in a registered civil partnership or a permanent cohabitation.