Child Adoption in Poland. Court Rejects Edyta. "She Is Too Old"?

Age can prevent adoption in Poland 0 that's the conclusion drawn from the story described by Karolina Kijek of "Gazeta Wyborcza." Today, 50-year-old Edyta is trying to adopt 2-year-old Malwina, whom she has been raising as a foster family since the girl was one month old. So far, without success.

Edyta met Malwina* when the girl was a month old. The child was in an incubator. Edyta had gone through three unsuccessful attempts to become a foster parent, as reported in Karolina Kijek's article in "Gazeta Wyborcza" titled "Edyta Has Been Malwina's Mom for Two Years. Officials Want to Take Her Child Away Because She Is Too Old". The woman had completed foster parent training at the Municipal Social Welfare Center. "I openly said I was 48 years old and wanted to pursue adoption. No one objected" - she said in an interview with the journalist.

Attempts to Adopt in Poland: "Noticeable Bond" Loses to Age Difference

The one-month-old girl came to Edyta two years ago. The court terminated the biological parents' rights at the end of 2022. That's when Edyta could begin the adoption process. She filed her applications with the family court and the Wrocław adoption center DOPS. This office must issue an evaluation and opinion, as emphasized by "Gazeta Wyborcza".

Officials at the center questioned Edyta during a meeting about why she was seeking adoption and observed how the child behaved around her. In the documents, they wrote:

She can make the child feel safe and loved; she will be sensitive to the child's needs and problems. Her behavior towards the child will be stable and consistent.

They also reviewed her financial and health situation, as well as her home environment, to ensure she provided suitable living conditions for the child. The newspaper notes that Edyta's close relatives support her in caring for Malwina: her 71-year-old mother and her younger, 46-year-old brother.

The Municipal Social Welfare Center supported the adoption request, emphasizing that Edyta "creates conditions for development, and a noticeable bond exists". However, the adoption center held a different view. In a negative opinion, it stated that:

the reason for the negative decision is the age difference between the woman and the child (greater than 40 years) and the motivation for adoption based on fulfilling her need to be a parent to a small child.

They suggested she adopt a 9-year-old child instead.

Now she is 50 years old; when her daughter turns 18, Edyta will be 67. This is a significant age difference, which could hinder understanding and meeting the needs of a growing, constantly changing child

- the opinion continued. It was also argued that as a "single mother" the child would "not experience fatherly care, which is important for a child's development".

The court did not agree to the adoption. In the spring of this year, the adoption center asked Edyta when she and Malwina could meet with a potential adoptive family. The girl had been registered as a child ready for adoption with a legally regulated status. No case concerning the 2-year-old girl was ongoing in family court - the previous adoption application was rejected, and Edyta had not yet filed a new one. She was waiting for a psychotherapist's opinion to include with her new adoption application. The application is now in court, and Edyta's lawyer has requested that the 2-year-old be removed from the list of children ready for adoption.

Adoption in Poland Not for a 50-Year-Old? "The Decisive Factor Should Be the Child's Welfare"

In 2018, the Supreme Audit Office pointed out that there are no uniform requirements and criteria regarding the age difference between adoptive parents and adopted children. Each center and court approaches the matter individually. The same observation was made by the Ombudsman’s office: Polish law states that "there should be an appropriate age difference" but it does not specify what that should be.

Michał Kubalski, a legal advisor and head of the family law department at the Ombudsman's office, referred to a ruling by a Kraków court, which recently stated that "age as an obstacle should not be treated formally and routinely". The Supreme Court ruled the same over 20 years ago.

The Ombudsman holds the same position: the age difference of 48 or 50 years between the child and the adoptive parent cannot and should not be the basis for denying an adoption application. The decisive factor should always be the child’s welfare

- he emphasized.

*The child's name has been changed.