From now on, same-sex couples have the right to adopt children in Slovenia as well

Slovenia, October 4, 2022 - Today, with 48 votes in favor and 29 against, Parliament adopted amendments to the Family Code, which stipulate that a marriage is a life union of two persons. At the same time, they allow same-sex partners in a partnership to jointly adopt a child under the same conditions as spouses. The changes follow a constitutional decision published in July. According to it, the current regulation, according to which only persons of different genders can enter into marriage and same-sex partners in a formal partnership cannot jointly adopt a child, is inconsistent with the constitutional prohibition of discrimination. The Constitutional Court ordered the DZ to eliminate the unconstitutionality within six months. It also stipulated that, until the changes in the legislation, a marriage is a life union of two people regardless of gender and that same-sex partners in a partnership can jointly adopt a child under the same conditions as spouses.

The government, as the proposer of the changes, emphasized the statements of the Constitutional Court that such discrimination cannot be justified by the traditional meaning of marriage as the union of husband and wife, nor by the special protection of families. According to the court, the decision does not reduce the importance of the institution of traditional marriage as a life union of husband and wife and does not change the conditions or consequences of entering into marriage between persons of different sexes. It only means that from now on, in addition to heterosexual partners, same-sex partners can also enter into marriage, the government also pointed out.

The parliamentary groups of the coalition supported the government in their positions, while the parliamentary groups of SDS and NSi disputed it. According to SDS, same-sex couples have had equal rights until now, except for adoption and fertilization with biomedical assistance. According to NSi, however, it is not understandable how a union between a man and a woman can have the same meaning as a union between same-sex persons. According to them, the union between a man and a woman is a union from which a new child’s life naturally arises, while this is not the case with a same-sex union.

In the EU, joint adoption of children for same-sex couples has been regulated by 13 member states, namely Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.