SHARE
COPY LINK

ADOPTION

First same-sex overseas adoption takes place in Sweden

A couple in Sweden have become parents after the country's first same-sex international adoption.

First same-sex overseas adoption takes place in Sweden
File photo of a dad and a child. Photo: Izabelle Nordfjell/TT

Sweden changed its legislation to allow for same-sex adoption 14 years ago, but international adoptions have long been as good as impossible because of many other countries' more restrictive rules.

But one couple have now adopted a child in Colombia, which recently changed its own rules. The two fathers were approved a year ago, and the whole process has now been carried out, reports SVT.

“We think it's great that a child has received a family. It was the best family for this particular child,” Margret Josefsson, chairwoman of Adoptionscentrum, told Swedish news agency TT.

Two of 26 countries where the adoption centre operates share Sweden's gender-neutral definition of a couple, Colombia and South Africa.

Josefsson said this could pave the way for more international same-sex adoptions.

“I'm sure more people will get that opportunity, but there are many things to consider when it comes to adoptions: that you have a job, education, a stable relationship. But I think this was the first step,” she said.

READ ALSO: Why some parents in Sweden have to adopt their own kids