ABSTRACT
Adoption involves the severing of the legal relationship between a child and his or her natural parents and the establishing of a new relationship with the adoptive parents. The law on adoption is set out in the Adoption and Children Act 2002. This Act has extended the definition of who is able to adopt to include unmarried couples (Adoption and Children Act 2002 ss 50, 114(4)) and to make the welfare of the child paramount whilst under the Adoption Act 1976 it was only the court’s first consideration. Adoption procedure has also been amended.
