Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the position regarding a case in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Clare; the reason, due to an anomaly within the adoption system, a mother is required to adopt their own natural daughter; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4222/13]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Under adoption legislation, when a child is registered on the Register of Adoption the child is deemed to be the fully legal child of the adoptive parent/couple, having exactly the same legal status as any biological child of the couple born to them within their marriage. In effect, once an adoption takes place, all previous links to the birth family are severed and the adopted person is considered part of the adopted family. In the case of step-parent adoptions, it is therefore necessary for the birth mother to adopt her child as part of the adoption process. I am currently examining this issue to see what options are available to address this issue.