Ruling that lawful adoption cannot be undone
Britain’s Supreme Court has ruled that adoption orders are final and cannot be set aside by the courts except through a valid appeal process.
In a case concerning X and Y, two individuals who had been adopted as children, their adoptive mother applied to revoke the adoption order on welfare grounds.
The application was supported by both X and Y, now adults, and their birth mother.
The adoptive mother sought to rely on the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction to undo the adoption.
However, the High Court found it had no authority to revoke a valid adoption order. This decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal, and the matter was subsequently brought before Britain’s Supreme Court.
In a joint judgment delivered by Lord Stephens and Lady Simler, with agreement from other justices, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal in a ruling given on 22 April.
Equivalent legal status
The court held that the legal status of an adopted child was equivalent to that of a child born to natural parents.
Just as there is no mechanism to revoke natural parenthood, there is similarly no power to undo an adoption once it has been lawfully made.
The judgment emphasised the strong public-policy reasons underpinning the finality of adoption orders.
Adoption is intended to create a permanent legal relationship, and allowing such orders to be revoked could undermine the stability and certainty essential to the system.
The court noted that introducing the possibility of revocation could damage the lifelong commitment expected of adoptive parents and deter prospective adopters.
No legal mechanism
The justices further clarified that there was no legal mechanism by which either natural parents or children could dissolve the parent-child relationship, once established through adoption.
The only way to alter parental responsibility is through the making of a new adoption order.
The ruling confirms that revocation of adoption orders is extremely limited and only permitted in narrow statutory circumstances, reinforcing adoption as a permanent and legally binding arrangement.