Adoption Numbers See Slight Increase in Germany Following Historic Low
Germany witnessed a modest rise in adoptions in 2024, following a significant dip in the previous year. According to data released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Friday, 3,662 children were adopted in the country during 2024.
This represents a 1.7 percent increase, or 61 more children adopted than in 2023, which marked the lowest number of adoptions since the reunification of Germany. Notably, the proportion of step-parent adoptions reached a new high in 2024, accounting for nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of the adoptions. These children were adopted by stepparents, including the new partners of legal parents.
The remaining adoptions were distributed among diverse-sex couples (22 percent), same-sex couples (three percent) and other single individuals (less than two percent).
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, the majority (72 percent) had grown up with a biological parent and a stepparent. A smaller percentage (ten percent) originated from hospitals, while nine percent came from foster care.
A small fraction of adoptions (three percent) followed anonymous births or placements through baby hatches and two percent stemmed from institutional care. Approximately seven percent of the children did not possess a German passport before 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 the prospective adoptive family. The average duration of this phase for children adopted in 2024 was 16 months.
A significant portion of the adoptions were carried out by steppmothers (43 percent) and steppfathers (31 percent). Interestingly, the average age of children adopted by steppfathers was considerably higher (11.4 years) compared to those adopted by steppmothers (2 years old). This difference is potentially linked to the partnership structures of steppmothers, with 79 percent of adoptions by steppmothers involving women in same-sex partnerships who did not disclose the child’s father. This accounted for roughly one-third (34 percent) of all adoptions in 2024, an increase from 31 percent in 2023. Legal regulations allow the non-biological partner in a same-sex partnership to gain legal parental status through a step-parent adoption.
Adoptions by steppmothers in same-sex partnerships without disclosed fathers saw a notable increase of ten percent, or 110 cases, in 2024, reaching a total of 1,243 adoptions. This contributed to the overall growth of step-parent adoptions, which have risen from 58 percent of all adoptions in 2014 to a new peak of 74 percent in 2024 (73 percent in 2023).
Twenty-five percent of adopted children in 2024 were adopted jointly by a couple, averaging 3.4 years of age. Diverse-sex couples accounted for 22 percent and same-sex couples for three percent of these joint adoptions, with male same-sex couples being more prevalent (74 percent) than female couples. Notably, male same-sex couples more frequently adopted boys (74 percent), while female same-sex couples tended 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 since 2009. The trend in 2024 also extended to adoption applications and children registered for adoption, which saw decreases of 14 percent and 26 percent, respectively. Consequently, there were approximately five potential adoptive families for every child registered in need of adoption in 2024.