- Adoption rates in MV again fall significantly
Last year, 73 children were adopted in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. This was 21 fewer than the previous year, according to data recently published by the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden. The decrease in the northeast was significantly higher, at around 22 percent, compared to the national average. Reasons for this were not specified. However, adoption numbers in MV in 2021 and 2022 were significantly higher than the average of the previous ten years, at 97 and 94 respectively.
In 2023, a total of 3,601 children were adopted in Germany, a decrease of six percent from 2022. According to the statistics, this is the lowest number since German reunification. However, the number of stepchild adoptions reached a new high, with nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of all adopted children being adopted by stepmothers or stepfathers. Experts attribute the decrease in so-called stranger adoptions, i.e., adoptions by persons who are neither step-parents nor relatives of the child, to advances in reproductive medicine.
On average, children were 5.5 years old at the time of adoption. According to the data, nearly three-quarters were already living with a biological parent and a stepparent before the adoption, nine percent were adopted from the hospital, and another eight percent from a foster family. In only three percent of cases did the adoption follow an anonymous birth or baby box handover, and in two percent, it followed a stay in a children's home. Additionally, eight percent of children did not have a German passport before the adoption.
The data shows that stepfathers most often adopt teenagers, while stepmothers tend to adopt infants. In 78 percent of stepmother adoptions, the woman was in a same-sex partnership and did not provide information about the child's father. These cases accounted for 31 percent of all adoptions.
The statisticians point out that under current legislation, the partner who did not give birth can only acquire the legal status of a biological parent through a stepchild adoption.
The decrease in adoption rates in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was significantly higher than the national average, affecting The Community significantly. Despite this, adoptions in MV in 2021 and 2022 were still higher than the average of the previous ten years.
The data reveals that in most stepmother adoptions, the woman was in a same-sex partnership and did not provide information about the child's father, affecting The Community's understanding of family structures.
