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Effect of adoption where adopter is step parent of child
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26. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 58:
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“58A. (1) Section 58 shall not apply where the adopter of a child is a step parent of the child and, in that case, upon an adoption order being made—
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(a) the child concerned shall be considered, with regard to the rights and duties of parents and children in relation to each other, as the child of—
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(i) the adopter and the adopter’s spouse,
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(ii) the adopter and the adopter’s civil partner, or
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(iii) the adopter and the adopter’s co-habitant,
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and
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(b) with respect to the child—
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(i) the mother or guardian, unless such mother or guardian is a person referred to in subparagraph (i), (ii) or (iii) of paragraph (a), and
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(ii) every relevant non-guardian of the child,
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shall, subject to section 57, lose all parental rights and shall be freed from all parental duties in respect of that child.
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(2) Nothing in this section shall operate to affect the legal parent-child relationship of a person, being a mother or guardian secondly referred to in paragraph (b) (i), with regard to his or her child, who is the subject of the adoption order referred to in subsection (1).”.
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