Adoption of a child from a maternity home

As a general rule, the adoption of a child takes place at a fairly early age, as citizens have the opportunity to influence the child's character and engage in its full-fledged upbringing.

However, the question arises from what minimum age can a child be adopted from a maternity hospital, and what do citizens need to do for this? This is the relevance of the chosen topic for today.

Therefore, in this article, we will talk about the peculiarities of adopting a child from a maternity hospital while analyzing several legislative acts of Ukraine.

What are the legal features of adopting a child from a maternity hospital?

The provisions of the Family Code of Ukraine provide that if the child was left by the biological mother or other family members in the maternity hospital and does not appear within 2 months to pick her up, then in this case the child can be adopted by other citizens (Parts 1, 2 of Article 209 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

So, we can say that the Family Code of Ukraine distinguishes 3 categories of children subject to adoption from the maternity hospital, namely:

• children who were abandoned in a maternity hospital or any other health care institution, medical institution;
• children who were refused to be picked up by biological parents, as well as other members of their family (grandfather, grandmother, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, etc.);
• children who were abandoned or found.

A child should be considered abandoned in a maternity hospital if its biological father or mother wrote a written statement about the child's abandonment, as well as if such a document is not available at all and it is impossible to establish their location.

A child should be considered abandoned or found if it is on the territory of a maternity hospital or medical facility, but its mother gave birth to a child in a place other than the health care facility itself (for example, at home).

If the child's biological parents have written a statement of refusal to give up the child, such a statement should indicate consent to the adoption of the child by other citizens.

In the absence of such consent in a written application from the child's parents, the child may be adopted only in the following cases (Part 1 of Article 219 of the Civil Code):

• if the location of the biological parents is unknown;
• biological parents were recognized as missing, incapacitated, or declared dead and there is a court decision confirming these facts;
• biological parents were deprived of parental rights regarding a child that other citizens want to adopt;
• after the birth of the child, her biological parents did not appear at the maternity hospital or other healthcare facility for 2 months and did not take the child into their family. In addition, a record of biological parents must be made by the provisions of Art. 135 of the SCU.

If the child was abandoned or found on the territory of the maternity hospital, and it is not possible to establish who the child's biological parents, close relatives, or other family members are, then in this case, the appropriate act is drawn up by the employees of the health care institution, as well as by the National Police, which describes in detail under what circumstances such a child was found and where exactly it was found.

In addition, the act also notes that it is impossible to establish the whereabouts of the child's parents.

Importantly! Based on this act, the procedure for registering a child with the children's service will take place, since the adoption of a child from maternity homes and medical and preventive institutions is not carried out.

Do you want to adopt a child from a maternity home, but do not know all the legal nuances of this procedure?

In such a situation, contact the Prikhodko and Partners law office.

Our lawyers have thorough knowledge in the field of family law in Ukraine, and therefore will always help clients to solve complex issues related to this branch. Do not delay and come to us for a consultation!