Adoptions in Denmark
Recent statistics reveal a significant increase in the number of international adoptions in Denmark over the past decade. According to estimates, approx. 600 adopted children are brought to Denmark from abroad each year, corresponding to 1% of the number of babies born in the country.
This new reality has changed the perspective of Danish legislators, who have wished to regulate adoption – especially from an international point of view – by increasing the attention paid to the child’s interests and its future.
This principle is safeguarded in all the relevant legislation, from the fundamental “Danish Act on adoption” (Act no. 1040 of 16.12.1999 including subsequent amendments) to the “Executive Order on the approval of adopters” and Enclosures 9 and 10, aimed at local adoption agencies (see the enclosed documentation).
The highest Authority in the area is the Department of Family Affairs under the Ministry of Family Affairs (http://www.familiestyrelsen.dk/other-languages). The Department, which is also appointed as the Central Authority according to the Hague Convention, applies the Danish rules in the area, arranges pre-adoption courses for prospective adoptive parents and monitors the activities of the authorized agencies.
The agencies are: AC Børnehjælp (AC International Child support, Eckersbergsgade 17, Mail box 152, DK-8100 Århus C; Tel: + 45 86 12 65 22; Fax: + 45 86 19 78 53; e-mail: adoption@a-c.dk; web-site: www.a-c.dk) and DanAdopt (Hovedgaden 24, 3460 Birkerød, Phone + 45 81 63 33, Fax.: + 45 45 81 74 82, e-mail: mail@danadopt.dk; web-site: www.danadopt.dk).
The ultimate goal of these agencies is to establish a legally and morally correct contact between the parent and the adopter in accordance with the laws and traditions of the child’s native country.
In order to be taken into consideration as a parent suited for adoption, the applicant must register with one of the two agencies and pass a specific personality examination. The examination is carried out by a Joint Committee with representatives from the biggest Danish municipalities and decides whether or not the applicant is suited for the adoption of a specific child. The examination is divided in three phases: the first phase serves to determine whether the application meets with a series of general requirements (an age difference of no more than 40 years; the couple must have been living together for at least two years; physical and mental health; financial situation; criminal record; housing); the second phase consists of a two-week pre-adoption course; the third phase is an interview with the Joint Committee, which will then make the final decision.
The Committee’s decision can be appealed to the National Adoption Board (www.adoptionsnaevnet.dk) which was founded in 1976 with the purpose of examining such appeals and monitoring legal developments nationally and abroad, through the gathering and passing on of vital new information in the area.
Besides the abovementioned bodies, there is also the Adoption Council, which deals with demands and recommendations to the relevant public authorities. The Embassy’s collaboration with the above-mentioned authorities has always been very positive, also because there have not been any particularly complicated cases in the past decade. In the past three years no adoption case has passed through the Embassy at all.
For more detailed information, please see the table below on international adoptions in Denmark from 1998 to 2002. None of the other major countries asked (France, Great Britain, Spain and USA) has opened any adoption procedure in the past three years. Only Germany has had three cases, all of them quite simple, regarding children adopted by relatives following the death of their parents.
No specific bilateral agreement has been signed in this area.
legals
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credits | F.A.Q.