Adoptions and parental custody

23 June 2022 Increasing number of stepfathers and stepmothers adopting children under 3

3,843 children were adopted in Germany in 2021. This was an increase of 2% on the previous year (+69 cases). Two thirds of these children were adopted by their stepfathers or stepmothers. An increasing number was adopted as babies or young children below the age of 3, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). The number of stepchildren under 3 years as a percentage of all adopted children rose from 6% to 27% over the past 10 years and thus more than quadrupled within 10 years. Compared with 2020, the increase was two percentage points. The total number of adoptions, in contrast, fell by 5% (-217 cases) in 10 years.

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