Adoption Numbers See Slight Increase in Germany Following 2023 Dip
The number of adoptions in Germany experienced a modest rise in 2024 after reaching a historical low in the previous year, according to data released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Friday. A total of 3,662 children were adopted in 2024, marking a 1.7 percent increase or 61 more children compared to 2023, which saw the lowest number of adoptions since the reunification of Germany.
A notable trend in 2024 was the record-high proportion of step-parent adoptions, accounting for nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of all adoptions. This includes adoptions by stepparents who are the current partners of the legal parents.
The remaining adoptions were undertaken by single individuals (22 percent), diverse-sex couples (three percent) and same-sex couples (three percent) adopting jointly. In approximately two percent of cases, children were adopted by other individuals.
At the time of adoption, the children averaged 5.3 years of age, with 51 percent being younger than two years old. Prior to adoption, 72 percent of children had grown up with a biological parent and a stepparent, while ten percent originated from hospitals and nine percent from foster care.
A small percentage of adoptions (three percent) followed anonymous births or placements through baby hatches and two percent resulted from institutional care. Seven percent of the adopted children did not possess a German passport prior to adoption, with only two percent being adopted internationally, primarily from Thailand, South Africa and Sri Lanka.
In nearly a quarter (23 percent) of adoptions in 2024, pre-adoption foster care was conducted, a legally mandated trial period designed to facilitate bonding between the child and prospective adoptive family. This phase lasted an average of 16 months for children adopted in 2024.
Stepmothers accounted for 43 percent of adoptions in 2024, while stepfathers were responsible for 31 percent. Notably, the average age of children adopted by stepmothers was two years, significantly younger than the 11.4 years for children adopted by stepfathers. This difference is potentially linked to the marital status of stepmothers, with 79 percent of adoptions by stepmothers involving women in same-sex partnerships who did not disclose the child’s father. This constituted roughly one-third (34 percent) of all adoptions in 2024, an increase from 31 percent in 2023. Current legislation allows the non-biological partner in a same-sex partnership to gain legal parental status through a step-parent adoption.
Adoptions by stepmothers in same-sex partnerships without disclosed biological fathers saw an above-average increase of ten percent or 110 cases in 2024, reaching 1,243 adoptions. This contributed significantly to the overall rise in step-parent adoptions, which have increased from 58 percent of all adoptions in 2014 to a new high of 74 percent in 2024, following 73 percent in 2023.
In 2024, 25 percent of adopted children were adopted jointly by a couple, averaging 3.4 years in age, slightly younger than children adopted by single individuals (5.9 years). These adoptive parents were 22 percent diverse-sex couples and three percent same-sex couples, with male same-sex couples adopting more frequently than female couples. Male same-sex couples were more likely to adopt boys (74 percent) while female same-sex couples were more likely to adopt girls (64 percent).
Despite the slight increase in 2024, the number of adoptions has remained relatively stable between 3,600 and 4,100 cases since 2009. While 2023 marked a historical low for adoptions, the trend extended to adoption applications and the number of children registered for adoption in 2024. Applications declined by 14 percent to 3,440 and the number of children registered for adoption decreased by 26 percent to 665. This resulted in a ratio of approximately five potential adoptive families for every child registered for adoption in 2024, according to the authorities.
