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Becoming a foster carer for a child under the age of 18
If you wish to adopt a child under the age of 18, you must first take the child into pre-adoption care. This preparatory period is intended to help assess whether a parent-child relationship will develop. Pre-adoption care is required by law.
The pre-adoption care period is usually one year. It begins on the day the prospective adoptive parents take the prospective adopted child into their home. It ends on the day the family court makes its decision on the adoption. The older the child is, the longer the foster care period should be. The foster care period may be shorter if, for example, a social bond already exists between the prospective parents and the child to be adopted. This may be the case if the child is being taken in by a step-parent or by the other partner.
The biological parents who wish to place their child for adoption may be involved in the selection of the adoptive parents.
Responsible authority
the adoption agency that arranged the adoption
Details
Prerequisite
- The adoption agency has assessed your suitability to adopt a child and found you to be suitable.
- In the agency’s view, you are the most suitable adoptive parents for the child who has been placed for adoption.
At the start of the pre-adoption placement, the following must be ensured:
- You intend to adopt the child. The period of pre-adoption care is not a non-binding trial period.
- There are no obstacles to the subsequent adoption.
- It is expected that a genuine parent-child relationship will develop.
Procedure
You will receive information from the adoption agency about the child and their birth family.
If you wish to get to know the child, the agency will organise a meeting. In the case of older children, several meetings will take place.
You have the primary obligation to provide for the child you are to adopt. This applies as soon as the parental consents have been received by the family court and the child is living in your household with a view to adoption. From this point onwards, you are no longer entitled to foster care allowance.
Even during the pre-adoption care period, you can claim various social, tax and employment-related benefits and allowances for yourself and the child.
You can
- include the child in your statutory health insurance cover under the family insurance scheme free of charge,
- apply for child benefit, parental allowance and parental leave,
- claim benefits under employment, pension and tax law for yourself.
During this period, you can seek advice and support from the adoption agency on all matters concerning the child. The child’s legal representation is usually handled by the Youth Welfare Office.
During the adoption placement period, you can submit an application for adoption to the family court. This can be done either before or after the family court has received the parents’ notarised declarations of consent. This application for adoption must also be notarised. From the age of 14, the child must give their own consent to the adoption.
Please note: Even if you submit the adoption application at an early stage, this does not shorten the duration of the foster care period.
Deadlines
none
Required documents
none
Costs
none
Miscellaneous
You must register the child with the Residents’ Registration Office within one week of the start of care.
Legal basis
Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB):
- § 1744 Probezeit
- § 1751 Wirkung der elterlichen Einwilligung, Verpflichtung zum Unterhalt
- § 8 folgende Adoptionsvermittlungsgesetz
Release note
machine generated, based on the German release by: Sozialministerium Baden-Württemberg, 22.07.2026
