Adoption Orders

From 18 September 2025: The law regarding international adoptions has temporarily changed. For more information about the temporary law changes, please refer to: Targeted reforms of the international adoption system

If you want to adopt a child through the New Zealand Family Court, you’ll need to apply to the Family Court for an Adoption Order. 

You should first contact Oranga Tamariki - Ministry for Children(external link) if you're:

  • planning to adopt a child and both you and the child are ordinarily resident in New Zealand, or
  • planning to adopt a child through an overseas court and want that adoption recognised in New Zealand, or
  • wanting to view an adoption record.

If either you or the child are not ordinarily resident in New Zealand and you're considering adoption, you should seek specialist legal advice.

What an Adoption Order does

An Adoption Order makes the adoptive parents the parents of the adopted child and the adoptive parents’ relatives become the child’s relatives. It takes away the parenthood of the child’s birth parents.

Who can apply for an Adoption Order

You can apply to the Family Court to adopt if you are:

  • an individual (including a step parent) or
  • 2 spouses applying together or
  • a birth parent.

Unless there are special circumstances, at least 1 of you needs to be:

  • at least 25 years old and 20 or more years older than the child or
  • at least 20 years old and a relative of the child.

The law regarding adoption by a couple in a de facto relationship or civil union is complex. You may want to get legal advice.

A single man can’t adopt a girl unless the court believes the man is the child’s father or there are special circumstances.

You and the child need to be ordinarily resident in New Zealand unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Before making an Adoption Order, the Family Court must be sure that the mother or parents have agreed to give up the child for adoption. This is called proof of consent. The court also needs to be sure that the people wanting to adopt will be good parents.

There are no filing fees when you apply for an Adoption Order.

Customary Māori adoptions

Customary Māori adoptions after 1910 are no longer recognised as a legal adoption.

In some cases, an Order about guardianship issues may better support a customary adoption rather than an Adoption Order.

Find out more about guardianship

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