Verdict: Don't go over the child's head for adoption

Is it in the child's interest to keep quiet about the fact that the father is not the biological father? No, according to a court: from a certain age the child must know this in order to be able to consent to an adoption.

When adopting, the child's will must also be taken into account from a certain age. In this sense, the Family Law Working Group of the German Lawyers' Association (DAV) points to a decision by the Hamburg-Bergedorf District Court (Az: 415c F 15/19), which rejected an adoption "over the head of the child".

In this specific case, a man wanted to adopt his wife's biological daughter. He met his future wife while she was pregnant. They moved in together and later got married. Neither had informed the girl that her “father” was not her biological father. This harms the child's well-being, they argued. When the adoption agency rejected the adoption because of the lack of information, the couple went to court - but without success.

A lack of information is serious

The court also had doubts that the adoption was in the best interests of the now 10-year-old girl. The court said that the lack of information was serious. Because knowing one's own ancestry is very important for the undisturbed development of an adopted child. And can be of considerable importance for personality development in general.

Judges generally see the willingness of the adoptive parents to inform the child about its origins in an age-appropriate manner as a prerequisite for adoption. They further argued that if the girl later found out about her adoption, she would also realize that it had been decided over her head.

Without knowing about her parentage, the girl could not say whether she would like to be accepted by the person wishing to adopt her. However, the child's wishes should be taken into account according to their age.