# Advice for de facto couple looking to adopt



## xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxozinsingapore (Feb 26, 2014)

Hi,

We are an Australian couple living in Singapore looking to adopt, and fulfil the Australian Government's criteria for adoption.

We are hoping to do a private intercountry adoption, but have also started the HSR process to be eligible to adopt in Singapore too.

As we are a de facto couple (not married, but together for 8+ years), we are finding it hard to get information on countries that allow de factos to adopt.

We know there is the possibility for one of us to adopt as a single parent, but would like to avoid this.

Does anyone know of any countries that are accepting of unmarried couples? Have any Australian couples out there recently adopted that can shed light on this?

I've had a good look through the forums, but can't find any appropriate info.

Many thanks in advance for your help!


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

I'm not aware of any country that allows an unmarried couple to jointly/simultaneously adopt a child. Moreover, all members of the household are considered in any home study, and some countries are not (shall we say) enthusiastic about households consisting of unmarried couples.

So that leaves single adoption (maybe) or marriage as options. In the former case, Singapore prohibits single men (in an unmarried relationship or not) from adopting girls, and Singaporean law applies to everyone in Singapore, including foreign residents. Thus if you want to adopt a girl from anywhere in the world it won't be the male in the household doing it while you're resident in Singapore.

If you are successful with single adoption it should be possible for the other partner to also adopt the child at a later point in time, either after marriage or under the laws of another country in the future. But this is somewhat risky if the initial adoptive parent dies or is legally incompetent before that second adoption process is completed.

Anyway...have you considered getting married? If you've been together over 8 years, and you're willing to care for a child together, it rather fits at this point.


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