Key Facts
- •Step-father (AA) seeks to adopt four siblings (D, H, K, N), supported by their mother (BB) but opposed by their father (CC).
- •N is 18, the others are teenagers and a younger child.
- •All children support adoption, as does the Children's Guardian.
- •Father's contact with children was inconsistent and fraught with difficulties, including allegations of abuse and cannabis use.
- •Step-father has been a significant figure in the children's lives since 2019.
- •Adoption agency social worker initially opposed adoption, while Cafcass Cymru's Children's Guardian changed her position to support it after meeting the children.
Legal Principles
Welfare of the child is paramount.
Adoption and Children Act 2002, section 1(2)
Court can dispense with father's consent to adoption if child's welfare requires it.
Adoption and Children Act 2002, section 52(1)(b)
Article 8 ECHR – right to respect for family and private life.
European Convention on Human Rights, Article 8
Distinction between stranger adoption and step-parent adoption regarding Article 8 interference.
Söderbäck v Sweden [1999] 1FLR 250, Re P (Step-Parent Adoption) [2015] EWCA Civ 1174
Proportionality test for adoption orders, considering the degree of interference with Article 8 rights.
Re P (Step-Parent Adoption) [2015] EWCA Civ 1174
Court must consider contact arrangements before making an adoption order.
Adoption and Children Act 2002, section 46(6)
Outcomes
Step-parent adoption orders granted for all four children.
Children's welfare paramount; strong, stable family unit with step-father; children's wishes; father's behaviour and lack of meaningful involvement; proportionality test satisfied.
Father's consent to adoption dispensed with.
Child welfare requires it; father's behaviour and lack of meaningful involvement.
Supervised contact ordered between father and D.
To protect D's welfare, given father's behaviour and history; gradual increase in contact frequency and location planned.
Children's surnames to be changed.
In accordance with children's wishes and to reflect the new legal family structure.