If a child is to be adopted, both parents and the child must consent to the adoption. The consent of one parent can be replaced by the family court in certain exceptional cases.

A parent's consent can be replaced if they are indifferent to their child or have grossly violated their duties towards their child over a longer period of time.

In the aforementioned cases, consent can only be replaced if it would be associated with particularly serious (disproportionate) disadvantages for the child concerned if the adoption does not take place.

It is also possible to replace the consent of a parent if that parent has committed a particularly serious breach of their parental duties and it can therefore be assumed that the child will never live in that parent's household.

Replacement of consent is also possible if a parent suffers from a particularly serious mental illness or a particularly serious mental or emotional 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 jeopardized if adoption did not take place.

In any case, the prerequisite for replacing consent is that it would have significant negative consequences for the child concerned if it could not be adopted. Minor disadvantages that may arise for the child if it is not adopted do not justify replacing consent to an adoption.

If consent is to be replaced because a parent is indifferent to their child, the youth welfare office is obliged to inform (instruct) the parent that it is possible to replace their consent. It must point out to the parent that the family court may only replace the consent three months after the instruction.

This instruction is not necessary if the whereabouts of the parent are not known and cannot be established within three months despite appropriate efforts by the youth welfare office.

If consent is to be replaced because a parent is indifferent to their child, the youth welfare office should inform (advise) this parent about what help can be offered if the parent were to take over the upbringing of their child in their own family.

This advice will not be given if the child has already been in the care of the family wishing to adopt it for some time and if the child would be likely to suffer serious harm if taken into the parent's household.

Replacement of the father's consent is possible if the mother has sole parental custody of a child.

In the above-mentioned cases, consent can only be replaced if it would be associated with particularly serious (disproportionate) disadvantages for the child concerned if an adoption does not take place.

In cases where the mother has sole parental custody, the youth welfare office must advise the father about his legal options. This refers, for example, to the possibility of the father applying for sole parental custody of the child.