Adopting a child can be a happy and exciting time. The main thing on your mind is probably your desire to grow your family! Just remember that adoption is also an official process. You must meet certain requirements and complete several steps to adopt a child in Quebec. Before getting started, learn more about what you need to do.
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Important! Different rules may apply if you want to adopt an adult or if you want to adopt through an Indigenous custom. |
The requirements to adopt
The requirements to adopt a child are the same whether you’re single, married, in a civil union or in a common-law relationship. In Quebec, common-law relationships are sometimes called a “de facto” union.
The adoption must be in the child’s best interests. The child can sometimes have a lawyer who will represent them and make sure the judge hears about their interests and wishes.
The biological parents must usually consent to their child being adopted. However, a court can sometimes decide that a child is eligible for adoption even if the biological parents haven’t given their consent. For example, a court can do this if the biological parents abandoned their child or if a court took away their parental authority.
In some situations, a tutor replaces the biological parents. They take on the role of the biological parents in the adoption process. In this situation, you must instead ask for the tutor’s consent.
You must be at least 18 to adopt a child. In most cases, you must also be at least 18 years older than the child you want to adopt. However, there are exceptions when your spouse or common-law partner is the child’s parent.
Children who are 14 or older must consent to their adoption. If they refuse, then they can’t be adopted. Children ages 10 to 13 will be asked for their consent. But the court can still approve the adoption without the child’s consent if this is in the child’s best interest.
There’s one more requirement if you want to adopt your common-law partner’s child: you must have been living together for at least three years.
The steps to take with the government
The government usually doesn’t get involved if the child you want to adopt is already part of your family, like when it’s your spouse or common-law partner’s child. Otherwise, the first step to becoming an adoptive parent is registering with your region’s adoption service.
There are two types of adoption:
- Regular adoption covers situations where the child’s biological parents consent to the adoption.
- Adoption through the Banque mixte (mixed bank) program covers situations where the child has been removed from their family of origin by the Director of Youth Protection (DYP) and placed with a foster family in preparation to be adopted.
Before being accepted as a potential adoptive parent, you will be asked to undergo a psychosocial evaluation. The purpose of this evaluation is to check if you have the capacity to welcome a child and take care of their needs.
You may need to wait many years for a regular adoption. This is because it’s rare for a child’s biological parents to consent to adoption.
The waitlist is shorter for adopting a child through the Banque mixte program. If your application is accepted, you will foster a child who has been removed from their family by the DYP. After some time has passed, the DYP will assess the situation. If the DYP feels it’s in the best interests of the child, they will start the adoption process.
The biological parents’ consent
Before filing a court application to adopt a child, you usually need to get the biological parents’ consent.
For a regular adoption, these people will have already given their consent. This means you can begin the court process to finalize the adoption.
For adoptions through the Banque mixte program, the Director of Youth Protection (DYP) will need to get consent from the biological parents. If they can’t get their consent, the DYP will need to ask the court to declare that the child can be adopted anyway.
The biological parents can change their mind within 30 days of having consented to adoption. If they change their mind, the child must be returned to their family of origin.
After 30 days, the child’s biological parents must go to court to ask for their child to be returned to them. To decide, the court will check if their consent was valid and then look at whether returning the child to them is in the child’s best interests.
The steps to complete in court
After receiving consent for the adoption, you can ask for a placement order in preparation for adoption. This step is mandatory, even if the child you want to adopt is your spouse’s or common-law partner’s.
At this step, the court makes sure that all the requirements for adoption are met, and that no one has asked for the child to be returned to them. If all the requirements are met, the court makes a placement order. This placement order normally lasts until the final step of the adoption process. It allows you to exercise parental authority for the child.
Once the court makes a placement order, the child normally has to live with you for at least six months. This waiting period can sometimes be reduced to as little as three months. After that, you can ask the court to finalize the adoption.
The second step is the actual adoption. At this step, the court makes sure that the adoption is in the child’s best interests. If the Director of Youth Protection (DYP) placed the child with you, the court will also make sure the child has adapted well to their new situation. If not, the adoption will be refused.
The legal effects of adoption
Adoption creates a significant legal change: you become the child’s legal parent or parents. You will have the same rights and responsibilities as you would for your biological child. For example, if you separate from your adopted child’s other parent, you may have to pay child support. The adopted child’s biological parents will no longer have any rights or responsibilities toward the child.
Of course, if you adopt your spouse’s or common-law partner’s child, they’re still the child’s other legal parent. Your spouse or common-law partner won’t lose any rights or responsibilities toward their child.
The child’s options for staying in contact with their family of origin
As the child’s legal parents, you can decide if your child will have contact with their family of origin or not. If you don’t want the family of origin to stay in contact with the child, you can mention this in the adoption file. The child’s biological parents can also refuse contact and add this to the adoption file.
If you want the child to stay in contact with their family of origin and this is in the child’s best interests, you can prepare a communication agreement with the family of origin. This agreement can cover how you will share information with them about the child or what kind of contact they will have with the child. You can have an agreement with any member of the family of origin, including the biological parents, grand-parents, brothers or sisters. You don’t need a court to approve this agreement.
Once the child is 14, they can refuse to have contact with their family of origin. If the child is between 10 and 13, they will be asked whether they want to have contact. But a court can decide to maintain contact if it’s in the child’s best interests, even if the child doesn’t want to.
The child’s right to know their origins
If your adopted child doesn’t have contact with their family of origin, they still have the right to know their origins. If your child is 14 or older, they won’t need your consent. They will be able to take steps to find out their family of origin’s identity.
In some cases, the child will also be able to contact their family of origin. The child will also be able to get a copy of their original birth certificate and court decisions related to their adoption.