Parliament unanimously approved this Friday the final text of the Commission on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees to extend the adoption age for children to 18 years.
The text was the result of a specialty work that combined bills submitted by the Block de Esquerda (BE), the Communist Party of Portugal (PCP), the People-Animals-Natureza (PAN), the Liberal Initiative (IL) and Livre, with with the aim of raising to 18 the age at which a child can be adopted, which has so far been 15 years.
In general, various parties have drawn attention to the fact that the age limit of 15 leaves children between the ages of 16 and 18 in limbo as they are not adoptable and also underage, citing an institutionalization scenario.
Portuguese law provides for the adoption of children between the ages of 15 and 18 only in cases where they are “children of the spouse of the adopter or were placed before the adoptive parents before they reached the age of 15” and are not financially independent.
The limitation of 15 years can lead to cases of separation of brothers and sisters, if at the time of adoption one was 15 years old and the other 16, for example.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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