Adoption Act, 1952

Persons who may apply for adoption order.

11.—(1) An adoption order shall not be made unless—

(a) the applicants are a married couple who are living together, or

(b) the applicant is the mother or natural father or a relative of the child, or

(c) the applicant is a widow.

(2) Save in the case of a married couple living together, an order shall not be made for the adoption of a child by more than one person.

(3) An adoption order shall not be made unless—

(a) the applicant and, if the applicants are a married couple, each of them has attained the age of thirty years, or

(b) the applicant has attained the age of twenty-one years and is the mother, natural father or a relative of the child, or

(c) the applicants are a married couple and the wife is the mother of the child and she or her husband has attained the age of twenty-one years, or

(d) the applicants are a married couple and one of them is the natural father or a relative of the child and each of them has attained the age of twenty-one years.

(4) An adoption order shall not be made unless the applicants reside in the State.

(5) An adoption order shall not be made unless the applicant or, if the applicants are a married couple, the husband is an Irish citizen or has been ordinarily resident in the State during the five years preceding the date of the application.