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Section 18: Freeing child for adoption

Adoption Act 1976 · 1976 c. 36View on legislation.gov.uk

This provision is omitted
It is retained for historical reference and may not reflect the law currently in force.

Part II: Adoption Orders

OMITTED FROM CURRENT TEXT.

The text below is the provision as originally enacted. It is historical and may not include amendments made before this status change. View the enacted source.

Where, on an application by an adoption agency, an authorised court is satisfied in the case of each parent or guardian of the child that—

he freely, and with full understanding of what is involved, agrees generally and unconditionally to the making of an adoption order, or
his agreement to the making of an adoption order should be dispensed with on a ground specified in section 16(2),

the court shall make an order declaring the child free for adoption.

No application shall be made under subsection (1) unless—

it is made with the consent of a parent or guardian of a child, or
the adoption agency is applying for dispensation under subsection (1)(b) of the agreement of each parent or guardian of the child, and the child is in the care of the adoption agency.

No agreement required under subsection (1)(a) shall be dispensed with under subsection (1)(b) unless the child is already placed for adoption or the court is satisfied that it is likely that the child will be placed for adoption.

An agreement by the mother of the child is ineffective for the purposes of this section if given less than 6 weeks after the child's birth.

On the making of an order under this section, the parental rights and duties relating to the child vest in the adoption agency, and subsections (2) and (3) of section 12 apply as if the order were an adoption order and the agency were the adopters.

Before making an order under this section, the court shall satisfy itself, in relation to each parent or guardian who agrees to the adoption of the child, that he has been given an opportunity of making, if he so wishes, a declaration that he prefers not to be involved in future questions concerning the adoption of the child; and any such declaration shall be recorded by the court.

Before making an order under this section in the case of an illegitimate child whose father is not its guardian, the court shall satisfy itself in relation to any person claiming to be the father that either—

he has no intention of applying for custody of the child under section 9 of the Guardianship of Minors Act 1971, or
if he did apply for custody under that section the application would be likely to be refused.

About this text

This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.