If a child is to be adopted, both parents and the child must consent to the adoption. In certain exceptional cases, the family court may override the consent of one parent.

The consent of one parent may be substituted if that parent is indifferent toward the child or has grossly neglected their duties toward the child for an extended period of time.

In the aforementioned cases, consent may be substituted only if the child in question would suffer particularly severe (disproportionate) disadvantages were the adoption not to proceed.

Replacing a parent’s consent is also possible if that parent has seriously violated their parental duties and, for this reason, it can be assumed that the child will never live in that parent’s household.

Substitution of consent is also possible if a parent suffers from a particularly severe mental illness or a particularly serious intellectual or psychological disability and, for this reason, is permanently unable to care for and raise their child, and if, in such a case, the child’s development would be seriously endangered if an adoption does not take place.

The prerequisite for waiving consent is thus, in every case, that failure to allow the child to be adopted would result in significant negative consequences for the child in question. Minor disadvantages that may arise for the child if he or she is not adopted do not justify waiving consent to an adoption.

If consent is to be substituted because a parent shows indifference toward their child, the Youth Welfare Office is obligated to inform (advise) the parent that substitution of their consent is possible. It must inform the parent that the family court may not override consent until three months have elapsed following this notification.

This notification is not required if the parent’s whereabouts are unknown and cannot be determined within three months despite appropriate efforts by the Youth Welfare Office.

If consent is to be substituted because a parent is indifferent toward their child, the Youth Welfare Office should inform (advise) that parent about what support services are available should the parent choose to take on the child’s upbringing within their own family.

This counseling does not take place if the child has already been in the care of the family seeking to adopt for some time and if serious harm to the child would be expected were the child to be placed in the parent’s household.

The father’s consent may be substituted if the mother has sole parental responsibility for the child.

In the aforementioned cases, the father’s consent may be substituted only if failure to proceed with the adoption would result in particularly serious (disproportionate) disadvantages for the child in question.

In cases where the mother exercises sole parental responsibility, the youth welfare office must advise the father of his legal options. This refers, for example, to informing him of the possibility of applying for sole parental responsibility for the child.