Filenews 15 November 2025 - by Theodora Nikolaou
There are quite a few couples or even single people in our country who cannot get what they desperately desire. A child. At the same time, there are not a few children who are desperately looking for maternal love and paternal warmth. The only hope left in either case is adoption.
But what happens when someone finally makes the decision to adopt a child? What is the procedure followed today, what will change - hopefully soon - what is the case with interstate adoptions and why in recent years they have been decreasing, with the result that today they are zero?
"F" opens today the chapter on adoptions in Cyprus, on the occasion of the promoted amendment of the existing legislation, which dates back to 1995 and its replacement was deemed necessary.
Adoption in four stages
First of all, we must mention that the Social Welfare Services act as the competent Authority at all stages of the adoption process, from the submission of the application to its completion. As we were told by the Deputy Ministry of Welfare, the competent officials are called upon to submit reports, focusing on ensuring the interest of the child to be adopted in a legal and irrevocable act.
Citizens who wish to proceed with adoption submit their request in writing to the District Welfare Officer of their province of residence so that their application can be examined in terms of their suitability. They then receive a certificate of suitability valid for two years and are included in the register of approved prospective parents.
Adoption is divided into the following four stages:
1. The process of approving the suitability of applicants.
2. Finding a child for adoption and matching with a specific approved couple (note that no timetable can be set).
3. The placement of a child and the issuance of a court order for adoption.
4. The support of adoptive parents and the adopted child after adoption.
Those interested can be informed about the adoption procedures from the website of the SWS or by contacting the local district offices of the SWS to which they can apply and receive relevant guidance.
On the question of how long the whole process takes, according to the competent Deputy Ministry, the average of the months that the adoption process lasts until its completion, this cannot be calculated since for each couple different special conditions may arise during the process, while a decisive role for the time it will take is played by the identification of a child available for adoption and the couple's choice to proceed with national or interstate adoption.
As far as the estimated costs are concerned, for national adoptions, there is none, while for intercountry adoptions, the cost borne by prospective adoptive parents is the certification and translation of documents depending on the country of application, as well as the costs of their travel to the child's country of origin, in case there is a match with a child available for adoption.
It is noted that at the moment there are no children available for adoption.
At the same time, the list of prospective adoptive parents includes 40 applicants. These are applications that have been approved and are waiting to adopt a child.
Reduction of interstate adoptions
According to data provided to "F" by the competent Deputy Ministry, in the last 10 years there have been a total of 615 adoptions (national and transnational). Specifically, in 2015 there were a total of 98 adoptions (76 national and 22 interstate), in 2016 102 (79 national and 23 interstate), in 2017 66 (45 national and 21 interstate), while from 2018 onwards there has been a gradual decrease mainly due to the sharp decrease in interstate adoptions. In particular, in the years 2019 and 2020 there were 46 adoptions per year respectively (41 national and 5 interstate, in 2021 57 (48 national and 9 interstate), in 2022 there were 28 adoptions (21 national and 7 interstate), in 2023 26 (25 national and just one interstate), while in 2024 there were 60 adoptions, all national and this year in the first 10 months of the year there were 20 national adoptions and no interstate.
| Year | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 10/2025 |
| National | 76 | 79 | 45 | 63 | 41 | 41 | 48 | 21 | 25 | 60 | 20 |
| Transnational | 22 | 23 | 21 | 24 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 98 | 102 | 66 | 87 | 46 | 46 | 57 | 28 | 26 | 60 | 20 |
There are candidates who back down
When asked whether there are cases of prospective parents being rejected, the Deputy Ministry of Welfare explains that the purpose of assessing a couple's suitability for adoption is the proper preparation of the couple and their cooperation with specialist professionals, in order to cover all aspects of the issues that may arise from the upbringing of a child, so that the decision they will make is conscious, if it is an irrevocable legal act. During this process, it is noted that there are cases of couples withdrawing their application.
What changes are being promoted?
Regarding the bill entitled "The Adoption Law of 2025", which was approved in February 2025 and submitted to the House of Representatives for voting, it aims to revise the existing legislation which dates back to 1995 and its replacement was deemed necessary if several of its provisions need to be updated. The new proposed Law modernizes adoption procedures and introduces provisions in order to ensure the best interests of the child with respect for their fundamental rights as recognized by international and European conventions. At the same time, it regulates both national and transnational adoptions in a single text.
Among other things, the proposed bill provides:
- The provision of counselling services and compulsory cooperation of adoptive parents and the child with the SWS for a period of five years or until adulthood, whichever occurs earlier.
- The provision of counselling services, with a psychologist for at least three sessions per year for a period of five years from the date of issuance of the decree.
- The compulsory participation of applicants, curators and adopters in educational programs. Education aims to better understand the needs of the child in general and the adopted child in particular.
- The introduction of the simple adoption decree, which allows the child to maintain communication with his biological family.
- The creation of registers of candidate adoptive parents and children for adoption.
- The procedure for disclosing information to locate the biological parent, as well as the procedure for requesting a parent to obtain information.
Through the bill, criteria are introduced for the assessment of the child's availability to be adopted, focusing on his or her best interests and ensuring his or her rights.
Further, counselling services are provided for the child available for adoption. In this context, the child's views and wishes will be taken into account, according to his age and degree of maturity.
Why is the revision of the law delayed?
The bill was approved last February by the Cabinet, submitted to the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs before Easter, but its discussion never started. As we were told, the Commission was ready to include the issue in the agenda for consideration, but this was not possible, as the state services decided that it had to go back for consultation with the Cyprus Confederation of Organizations of the Disabled (KYSOA). In fact, on October 9, 2025, the Commission sent a letter to the Ministry of Labour (which is also the competent one), requesting information on the whereabouts of the bill. Finally, as we were told by the Deputy Ministry of Welfare, the consultation has been completed, as well as the legal technical control by the Legal Service and the bill will be resubmitted to the Parliament so that it can begin its discussion article by article in the Committee and then be put before the Plenary for voting.
