Bill Ready to Phase Out Foreign Adoption and Simplify Identity Restoration

State Secretary Rutte: “The abuses in the past have painfully but clearly shown that foreign adoption is not a sustainable solution to protect vulnerable children. Therefore, we will carefully phase out foreign adoptions and end them in 2030. We will better support people affected by their adoption in regaining their identity and gaining insight into their ancestry information.”

The basis for phasing out foreign adoption is the phase-out plan presented at the end of 2024. Once the law is enacted, prospective adoptive parents can no longer register for new foreign adoptions. Until May 1, 2030, license holders for mediation in foreign adoption can still propose matches between a child and prospective adoptive parents. Procedures in which no match is found before May 1, 2030, will be terminated on that date. Until December 18, 2030, license holders can complete ongoing procedures where matching has taken place. After that, the licenses expire and the Central Authority will take over these tasks.

For ongoing procedures, the previously established stricter safeguards and controls apply. Adoptions will only take place from a limited number of countries selected after investigation. Strict checks are also made to ensure sufficient search for possible families in the home country and that adoption procedures are in order.

After 2030, foreign adoptions will no longer be allowed. A temporary exception will apply for biological (half) brothers and sisters. They may be adopted up to 5 years after the adoption of their sibling, upon request from the country of origin.

Adopted people can experience major problems with their identity, for example with their name. Therefore, this bill makes name changes easier and cheaper. Not only for adoptees but for anyone struggling with a name imposed or given in the past. The law allows a first and last name to be changed once without giving a reason through the civil registry of the municipality, instead of through various institutions. This change will also be significantly cheaper than the current costs of about €1000 for a first name and €835 for a last name.

Besides changing the name, the new law removes the legal deadline for revoking an adoption. Currently, a request to revoke must be submitted when an adoptee is between 20 and 22 years old. However, adoptees may also wish to revoke the adoption at a later age. Therefore, the deadline is removed. In practice, courts have already not strictly enforced this deadline.

Adoption files contain crucial information for adoptees about the history and background of their adoption and their origin and ancestry. Now and after the phase-out and ending, these files must be well preserved and as accessible as possible to those involved. Therefore, this bill transfers the adoption files of license holders to the National Archives. There, access to the files is provided as much as possible and with low thresholds, especially regarding origin and ancestry information. The overriding interest of adoptees to gain insight into their ancestry information is prioritized by this bill. Due to privacy rights, for example of adoptive parents, it is not always possible to make adoption files fully accessible to adoptees.

While foreign adoption is being phased out and ended, the bill makes adult adoption possible. This is currently not possible in the Netherlands, although the desire may arise after reaching adulthood. The bill allows caregivers under conditions to adopt an adult person, creating a legal bond. This allows a bond formed in youth to be legally established later.

The changes will also apply to Caribbean Netherlands. The bill also aligns the rules for domestic adoption on Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba with those in European Netherlands. For example, it will also be possible there for same-sex couples to adopt a child.

The bill will go into consultation next week. This consultation will last until April 7, 2026. In addition to the consultation, targeted implementation assessments and advice will be requested from involved parties including license holders, the Child Protection Board, the Central Authority, and the Council for the Judiciary.