Same-sex adoption in Brazil

Same-sex adoption in Brazil is legal according to the Superior Court of Justice of Brazil, as stated in a court decision on April 27, 2010. The change was a milestone in the country's LGBT history.

The ministers (Justices) underlined that neither the Statute of Children and Adolescents of 1990, nor the Civil Code of 2002, much less the Federal Constitution of 1988, define any restrictions as to gender, marital status or sexual orientation the adopter.

On August 16, 2010, the minister (Justice) Marco Aurélio Mello, of the STF (Supreme Federal Court of Brazil), ruled in favor of a same-sex couple, formed by a British citizen and a Brazilian, in the state of Paraná. This allowed the couple to adopt any child, regardless of age or sex of the child. The decision of the Supreme Federal Court opened the way for other same-sex couples to be accorded the same right in the country.

Adoption by homosexual individuals started in Brazil in 1996, the first recorded case occurring in the state of Rio de Janeiro. After this, several cases occurred in the rest of the country. Joint homosexual adoption started in Brazil in 2005. The first recorded case occurred in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, and subsequent cases have occurred in all five Regions of Brazil. The favorable decision by the Superior Court of Justice only solidified the cases which were already approved. In Brazil, 20% of same-sex couples have children. In the United States is 16%.

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