Birth

Every child born in Germany must be registered by the registry office responsible registry office must be registered.

You must register a birth:

• the hospital where the birth takes place
• the custodial parents or all other persons present

For further questions please contact the registry office is at your disposal.

Surrogacy

The procurement of a surrogate motherhood is prohibited in Germany according to § 1 paragraph 1 number 7 of the Embryo Protection Act prohibited . The ban serves to prevent so-called split maternities where the genetic mother and the gestating mother are not identical. In the interests of the child's welfare, the legislator wanted to unambiguity of maternity in the best interests of the child. According to German parentage law, the woman mother of the child who gave birth to it (§ 1591 BGB). A woman who is not the birth mother of the child can only be legally assigned as the mother by way of adoption. by way of adoption by way of adoption.

Maintenance obligations for children in cross-border family situations

Depending on the country in which the the person obliged or entitled to maintenance is located is resident, maintenance claims abroad can be enforced by means of various procedures.

The law on assertion of maintenance claims in dealings with foreign countries (Foreign Maintenance Act - AUG) forms the legal framework in Germany for proceedings in which international bases for action exist, on the basis of which maintenance obligations can be claimed. These are in particular

• the Regulation (EC) No. 4/2009 of the European Council of December 18, 2008 on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and cooperation in matters relating to maintenance obligations
• the Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance of November 23, 2007
• the New York UN Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support Abroad of June 20, 1956

The AUG is also applicable in the case of guaranteed formal reciprocity in accordance with the Foreign Maintenance Act.

Adoption

Adoption establishes a new parent-child relationship through a court decision. It is pronounced by the family court by order.

Adoption as a child The relationship of the child to its previous parents and relatives expires (§§ 1755 of the German Civil Code - BGB).

Adoption of an adult The relationship to the previous parents and relatives expires in principle not . Exceptions are possible (§§ 1770, 1772 BGB).

Adoption is only permissible if it is in the best interests of the child . It is also expected that the adopter and the child have a parent-child relationship (§ 1741 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 BGB), the adoption requires the consent of the biological parents, the adopter and the child is required for the adoption. consent can be judicially replaced (Sections 1746 et seq. BGB).

Who can adopt?

Married couples can only adopt a child jointly. One spouse must have reached the age of 25 and the other the age of 21 (§ 1741 BGB, §1743 BGB).

Single parents can adopt a child alone if they are at least 25 years old (§ 1741 BGB, § 1743 BGB).

For unmarried couples or couples in registered civil partnerships only one person can initially adopt. The other person has the option of adopting the child that the partner has already adopted (successive adoption). In addition, a person can adopt their own stepchild if they are married to the child's mother or father, are in a registered civil partnership or live together in a permanent partnership (Section 1741 BGB and Section 1766a BGB). The minimum age for adopting a stepchild is 21, while the age of the partner is irrelevant.

Further rules and requirements

Sections 1741-1772 BGB and Sections 186-199 of the Act on Proceedings in Family Matters and in Matters of Non-Contentious Jurisdiction (FamFG) contain further rules and requirements for the adoption and its effect as well as with regard to the possibility of annulling an adoption. possibility of annulling an adoption .

These regulations are flanked by the Adoption Mediation Act . These provisions restrict adoption mediation and provide for special regulations for intercountry adoption. Specifically for the domestic effect of intercountry adoptions are also the provisions of the Adoption Effect Act must be observed.

In the case of international circumstances Article 22 EGBGB regulates which law applies to an adoption as a child and to the necessary consent of the biological parents. German law applies to domestic adoptions.

Foreign adoptions

Adoption decisions from contracting states of the Hague Adoption Convention of 1993 (HAÜ) are recognized in Germany in accordance with the HAÜ. In addition to the Hague Convention, recognition is governed by national law (Adoptionsübereinkommens-Ausführungsgesetz - AdÜbAG - Adoption Convention Implementation Act, Adoptionswirkungsgesetz - AdWirkG - Adoption Effect Act). For adoption decisions from non-contracting states of the Hague Convention, §§ 108f. Act on Proceedings in Family Matters and in Matters of Non-Contractual Jurisdiction (FamFG) continue to apply. It is important to note that a judicial recognition procedure is mandatory for the recognition of foreign adoption decisions, unless the foreign adoption decision is accompanied by a certificate in accordance with Art. 23 of the Hague Convention confirming that the adoption took place in accordance with the provisions of the Hague Convention.

In § Section 6 of the Nationality Act regulates the cases in which a foreign adoption confers German citizenship conveys.